Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $156.72 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.78 and a 200-day moving average of $152.68. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. This 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 through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.