Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,856 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,871 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after purchasing an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after acquiring an additional 132,643 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 26,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the first quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 933,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $155,951,000 after acquiring an additional 85,000 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.1 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its 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). The business 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

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.