Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Impact Partnership Wealth LLC

Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRIFree Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,987 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $186.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.03 and a 200-day moving average of $163.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRIGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.52.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Darden Restaurants

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DRI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRIFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

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