Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $308,000 Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,988 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 12,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,979,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after purchasing an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 263.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,453 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 5,401 shares during the period. Finally, OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.9% during the third quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $65,735.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,206 shares of company stock valued at $12,460,313 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $162.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $160.25 and its 200 day moving average is $152.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

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.