Martingale Asset Management L P Reduces Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 52,915 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in 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 last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $176.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $177.67. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

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.