Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells 12,759 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,047,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,595. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $176.35 and its 200 day moving average is $162.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 39,795 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,429,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.52.

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.