Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co Sells 145 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $56,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. David Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $251,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 157.7% in the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 11,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 9,873 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $194.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.88%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.