Moody National Bank Trust Division Buys 91 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,973 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 54.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the second quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 30,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,559,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.1% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 327,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $54,427,000 after purchasing an additional 47,915 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 846,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,553,000 after acquiring an additional 34,174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R Broad Matthew 5,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.9 %

DRI traded down $2.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $141.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,662,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,230,659. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 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.