Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,450 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after acquiring an additional 322,079 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $537,001,000 after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $362,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,819 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $197.52 and a 200 day moving average of $197.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.