The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 19,115 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 383,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 19,115 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $63,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 29,524 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after buying an additional 11,241 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,514,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $175.04 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $177.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.