Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Bragg Financial Advisors Inc

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,646 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $195,422,000 after acquiring an additional 102,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $194.40 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.14. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,047 shares of company stock valued at $11,947,346. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.