44 Wealth Management LLC Sells 138 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

44 Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,492 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 138 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $191.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $187.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.83. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94. The company has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.