Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $7.98 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,270 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after buying an additional 100,270 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 45.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after acquiring an additional 596,863 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $192.58 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $206.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.