Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 13,313 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 13,313 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 157,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,801,000 after buying an additional 30,300 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 107,971 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 25.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on DRI. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of DRI opened at $162.59 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.92.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.