Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,067 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $17,202,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $1,199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $140.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.04 and its 200-day moving average is $155.15.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Darden Restaurants 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.