Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 70,209 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,578 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $194.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,109,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,397. 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 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $195.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.05.

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Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.