GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,417 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 26,081 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.16 and a 200-day moving average of $153.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

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.