Bokf Na Decreases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Bokf Na reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,325 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $1.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $144.15. 129,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,205,882. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.56. The company has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. 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.