Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,253 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 741 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $164.45 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $163.32 and a 200-day moving average of $153.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.