Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Insider Laura B. Williamson Sells 1,157 Shares

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Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,176,370.40. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,158,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,092,358. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.10 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $214.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.76. The company has a market cap of $23.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $84,801,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,919,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $53,760,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.