Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock Position Reduced by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,787 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $198.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $197.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. 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 one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last ninety days. 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.