Jump Financial LLC Has $450,000 Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Jump Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 88.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,411 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 17,894 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $200.16 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.