Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Sells $4,271,642.42 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.37. 941,767 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,241,847. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $210.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.56. The firm has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,357,000 after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $15,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

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.