Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Lindbrook Capital LLC

Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 622 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $102,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 55.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after purchasing an additional 418,860 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,602,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $229,516,000 after purchasing an additional 340,467 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,321,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,669,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $239,148,000 after buying an additional 202,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,290,224 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $328,006,000 after buying an additional 200,342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $156.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.12. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.