AXQ Capital LP Has $1.02 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

AXQ Capital LP decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,518 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.