Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $91,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3,371.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 486 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $91,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $682,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average is $176.85. The firm has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend 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.