Hantz Financial Services Inc. Sells 62,554 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,505 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 62,554 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 234.3% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 4,704 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 395.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 29,989 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 127.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 7,983 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 54.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $172.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.85 and a 200-day moving average of $155.15. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its 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 return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio 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.