First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 4,181 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 33,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,181 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $838,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 499.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $352,725.00. Following 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,323,138. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.9 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $162.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $154.74 and its 200-day moving average is $153.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.