Phoenix Wealth Advisors Has $2.72 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Phoenix Wealth Advisors decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,591 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 576 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants makes up 1.2% of Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth approximately $777,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value 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. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $186.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. 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.