Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,180 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,073 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $324,000. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 611.6% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 48,709 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,093,000 after purchasing an additional 41,864 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $207.03 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.61. 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 $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.