Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Sells 412 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,899 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 412 shares during the quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,404 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,087,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $4,216,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,961,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $195.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.48. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $196.80.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

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.