Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,450 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $196.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.74. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.