Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Sells 9,249 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Envestnet Portfolio Solutions cut its Darden Restaurants stake by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,249 shares and ending with 19,357 shares valued at about $3.56 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on Darden: analysts cite a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $226.24, and 18 analysts rate the stock a Buy versus nine Holds.
• Darden reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, both slightly above expectations; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, implying a 3.0% annual yield.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 9,249 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $196.91 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $197.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.59.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.

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