Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,602,433.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Melvin John Martin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 25th, Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $164.14 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.96. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 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 firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.25.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after acquiring an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after acquiring an additional 18,899 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after acquiring an additional 132,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.