Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after buying an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $152,066,000 after buying an additional 26,081 shares during the period. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the first quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 933,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $155,951,000 after buying an additional 85,000 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6 %

DRI stock opened at $168.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.56. 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.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DRI. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at $917,448. The trade was a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,719. The trade was a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.