SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,101 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,101 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after buying an additional 132,643 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10,491.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 127,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,233,000 after purchasing an additional 125,900 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,954 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.3% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,243 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $189.18.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.