HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 3,394 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,869 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,394 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $166.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.41. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $177.67. The company has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.46.

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.