Advocate Group LLC Has $690,000 Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Advocate Group LLC reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,696 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $177.44 and its 200 day moving average is $163.36. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 over the last quarter. 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.