Royal Fund Management LLC Has $10.10 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,674 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 31,495 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $72,901,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,345,000 after buying an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after buying an additional 204,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Stephens raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0 %

DRI traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $159.16. The stock had a trading volume of 49,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,821. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

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.