Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 4,517 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 461,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,517 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $86,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $208.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $210.47. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $192.60 and its 200 day moving average is $177.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

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.