GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Has $7.85 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,417 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.1 %

DRI stock opened at $166.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.66. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group increased 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This trade represents a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.