Congress Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 716,267 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 26,081 shares during the period. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 933,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $155,951,000 after purchasing an additional 85,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2 %

DRI opened at $159.72 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $161.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.79.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.