Investors Research Corp Sells 1,525 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Investors Research Corp lowered its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,525 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,525 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $205,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,832,000 after buying an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,374 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company'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 directly owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.95. The company had a trading volume of 663,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,330. The company has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $191.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.