Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Wolff Wiese Magana LLC

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $838,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,158,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $164.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $158.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 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.