Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,203 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,203 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $188.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.12. 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 company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.