Rajesh Vennam Sells 7,228 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

DRI stock traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $188.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,209,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,264. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $188.95.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.