Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,963 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % 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 valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $191.12 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $201.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $187.90 and its 200-day moving average is $170.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

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.