Investors Research Corp Has $658,000 Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Investors Research Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,525 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $195.61 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.78.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.