Portfolio Design Labs LLC Sells 13,269 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 74.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 13,269 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 7,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 100.2% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 3,523 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $247,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 418.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,839 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,521 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $160.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.86. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

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.