Franklin Resources Inc. Has $11.27 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,787 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $11,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,995,000 after acquiring an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.25. 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 company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

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.