Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $537,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after acquiring an additional 322,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $362,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,819 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,004,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $184,913,000 after purchasing an additional 43,794 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $204.23 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.20.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.