Truist Financial Corp Purchases 1,268 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $194.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.30.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.