Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,633 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.12.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,275 shares of company stock worth $5,913,038 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $181.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.