Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. Sells 2,138 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,138 shares during the quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.2% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 24,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $266,000. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 52,730 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,955,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,728,000 after buying an additional 7,902 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.4%

DRI stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $220.27. 604,934 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,779. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.17 and a 200-day moving average of $199.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

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.