Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,772 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Union Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in 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 increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, United Community Bank grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value 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 approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.45.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $158.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.