Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Douglas J. Milanes Sells 7,892 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.73 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $180.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.88. The company has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $2,802,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

About Darden Restaurants

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.