Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,672 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,070 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $176.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This trade represents a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

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.