Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $707,000 Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 730 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $172.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.18. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.