Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 44,464 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 1.97% of Darden Restaurants worth $386,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,766,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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, September 20th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $164.59. The company had a trading volume of 723,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,838. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.44. The company has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

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.