Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Purchases 1,229 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $186.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.03 and a 200-day moving average of $163.06. The company has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.