Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $168.00 at Morgan Stanley

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $148.00 to $168.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $136.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $131.00 to $129.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.91.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $145.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.21. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $110.96 and a fifty-two week high of $152.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $144.06 and a 200 day moving average of $133.68.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Richard L. Renninger sold 5,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.99, for a total transaction of $739,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,310,240.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Richard L. Renninger sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.99, for a total value of $739,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,310,240.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $334,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,975 shares of company stock worth $3,439,234. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Glenview Trust Co raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the third quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 2,892 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,326 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.