Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 9,150 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,035 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,150 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $13,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2,139.4% in the fourth quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 59,837 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,011,000 after acquiring an additional 57,165 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 8,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 4,232 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 22,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,052,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $203.87 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $197.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.10. The firm has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.