Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 141,917 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 8,423 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.12% of Darden Restaurants worth $23,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 499.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 11,270 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $21,158,000 after buying an additional 7,184 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,451,000 after buying an additional 6,151 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 16.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on 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, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 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 business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2 %

DRI stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.65. 747,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,221,111. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.79. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.