Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock Position Boosted by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 14,338.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,406 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,327 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,206 shares of company stock valued at $12,460,313. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $159.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

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.