Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Buys 842 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,048,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

DRI opened at $187.63 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.86. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Darden Restaurants’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.00.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.