Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,607 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,919,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $71,883,000 after buying an additional 227,977 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,622,000 after buying an additional 193,134 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $206.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.21 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $213.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total transaction of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.19.

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.