abrdn plc Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

abrdn plc lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,203 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $159.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $161.29 and a 200 day moving average of $152.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

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.