Intrust Bank NA Sells 222 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Intrust Bank NA decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $204.89 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.62 and a 200 day moving average of $178.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.