Franklin Resources Inc. Has $11.27 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,787 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $11,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

DRI stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 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. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $188.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.87 and its 200-day moving average is $157.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 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.