Zacks Investment Management Has $3.37 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Zacks Investment Management trimmed its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $169.75 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $165.01 and its 200 day moving average is $155.84. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $177.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.88.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.