Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 234.3% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 4,704 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,074,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,555 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,937,000 after buying an additional 4,913 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 29,989 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $177.58.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 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.