Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Riverview Trust Co

Riverview Trust Co cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $200.72 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94. The stock has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.27 and its 200-day moving average is $172.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.