Independent Advisor Alliance Has $344,000 Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $5,514,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Finally, Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $174.98 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $177.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush boosted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.