Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $7.98 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,270 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $192.58 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.