ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,501 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,556,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $203.48 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.