Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock Position Trimmed by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 89.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,823 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 25,125 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.1 %

DRI traded down $1.91 on Friday, reaching $166.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,979,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,128. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $163.16 and its 200 day moving average is $153.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.