Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Sells 104 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,251 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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 target price of $201.38.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.6%

DRI stock opened at $205.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.95.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.