World Investment Advisors Has $8.14 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,859 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $8,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $209.80 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $196.09 and its 200 day moving average is $179.53. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.