LPL Financial LLC Acquires 13,682 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $15,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,615 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,585,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 548.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 22,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after acquiring an additional 19,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $420,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $209.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $195.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.32. The firm has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.