Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 2,432 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,350 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $8,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $185.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.