Corient Private Wealth LLC Has $2.94 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Corient Private Wealth LLC cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,757 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $192.08 and a 200-day moving average of $176.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.