Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 990 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.1% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 3,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 107.9% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,098,000 after buying an additional 31,495 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

DRI stock opened at $200.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $181.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.52. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

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.