Harrell Investment Partners LLC Has $4.24 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Harrell Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 832 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 163,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of DRI opened at $187.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.52.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.