Center for Financial Planning Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $190.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.