Huntington National Bank Has $990,000 Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Huntington National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $166.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $163.16 and a 200-day moving average of $153.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

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.