Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 197,008 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 55.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 155,336 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 197,008 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $25,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was 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 valued at $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE DRI opened at $165.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $165.36 and its 200 day moving average is $156.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its 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 during 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.