Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Boosts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,659 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $260,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value 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 represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $197.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $189.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.78.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.