First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 263.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,453 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 5,401 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 151.6% in the third quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 84,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,807,000 after purchasing an additional 50,690 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on 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, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $164.59 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.