Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,962 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $18,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 3,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,098,000 after acquiring an additional 31,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $200.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $201.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.