Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 58,700 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,666,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 58,700 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $273,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $2,861,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $352,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $1,343,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2,781.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. 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.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $169.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.79. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results 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 firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.88.

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.