BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Boosts Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 37.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 94,979 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,785 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $17,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,548,000. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,447,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 28,253 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 18,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $198.11 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $197.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.