Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $165.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $165.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 2.52% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $3.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,004,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.39. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.