Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $5.64 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,669 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,342 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were 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 owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $198.11 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 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 price of $197.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.