Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Americana Partners LLC

Americana Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,255 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 445 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 499.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 11,270 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,158,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,451,000 after acquiring an additional 6,151 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,945 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $159.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.79. The company has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.