Douglas J. Milanes Sells 7,892 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $200.90. The company has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during 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. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.