Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Buys 298 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,897 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,276 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $186.27 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

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.