Saxon Interests Inc. Grows Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Saxon Interests Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,782 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $182.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $189.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.12.

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.