Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 72 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,680 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 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 research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $166.78 on Friday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.