Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 33.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,581 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 20,553 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

DRI opened at $160.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Stephens decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $159.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants 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.