Berry Wealth Group LP Has $2.38 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Berry Wealth Group LP trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,490 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants accounts for 1.7% of Berry Wealth Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Berry Wealth Group LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $164.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 416,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,644. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.