Fullcircle Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Fullcircle Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,090 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 591,668 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $110,458,000 after buying an additional 81,131 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,798,000. Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $682,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 44,652 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,336,000 after purchasing an additional 19,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 15,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,719,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $197.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.91. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants 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.