Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 123,900 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $587,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 5,756 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 35,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,805,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $682,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $164.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $163.65 and a 200 day moving average of $153.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

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.