abrdn plc Has $7.07 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

abrdn plc lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,921 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,282 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.5% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 11,181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $354,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $621,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $194.75. 797,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,070,314. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $201.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $183.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. 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.