Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Cuts Stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,610,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,056,000 after buying an additional 232,583 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 52.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,236,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800,809 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,279,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,028,000 after purchasing an additional 851,886 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,359,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,232,000 after purchasing an additional 234,907 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at about $94,650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert W. Day bought 2,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.37 per share, with a total value of $99,684.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,337.59. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DAR opened at $36.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.32. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.67 and a 12-month high of $56.34.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.10. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Darling Ingredients from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup raised Darling Ingredients from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.10.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc develops, produces, and sells natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients. It offers ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries.