Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,580 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $191.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

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.