Venturi Wealth Management LLC Takes $384,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,055 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $194.84 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.