Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 197,008 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 55.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,336 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 197,008 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $25,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.7 %

DRI opened at $165.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $177.67. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.