Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Douglas J. Milanes Sells 7,892 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.28. 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 $200.90. The stock has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,404 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $4,216,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.