Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 240,488 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,128 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $39,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $174.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $177.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted 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 reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.