Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $182.81 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.