Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Sells 412 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,899 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 412 shares during the quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in 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 during the period. Willis Investment Counsel raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 92,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,325,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 11,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 2,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,242 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $195.44 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $196.80.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.