Baldwin Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 15.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,103 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake 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 worth $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after purchasing an additional 204,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $173.84 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $164.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.43. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $177.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 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 results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.