Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 4,758 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,758 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,614 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,389 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $887,000. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 11,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 4,696 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.46.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $167.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $165.55 and its 200 day moving average is $156.68. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. 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.