Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 107 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Independent Advisor Alliance lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,099 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on DRI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $174.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $177.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $164.67 and its 200-day moving average is $154.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.