Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 13,313 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of DRI traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $164.78. The company had a trading volume of 830,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,513. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $176.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $163.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.99.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % 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, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.