Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by GAM Holding AG

GAM Holding AG reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,153 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $200.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $201.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.23 and a 200-day moving average of $169.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

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.