Assetmark Inc. Sells 77 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Assetmark Inc. cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,351 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment 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, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of DRI opened at $180.80 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.12. The company has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.