Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $1.39 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,211 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 539 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Union Savings Bank grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $159.35 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.08. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

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.