Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 24.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,610,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,056,000 after acquiring an additional 232,583 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 52.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,236,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,809 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 24.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,279,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,028,000 after purchasing an additional 851,886 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 7.5% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,359,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,232,000 after purchasing an additional 234,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,650,000. 94.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert W. Day purchased 2,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.37 per share, for a total transaction of $99,684.84. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,337.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of Darling Ingredients stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.67 and a 52 week high of $56.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.32.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.10. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Darling Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DAR. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.10.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc develops, produces, and sells natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients. It offers ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries.