Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co. MA

Congress Asset Management Co. MA cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,354 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,183 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $8,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4,601.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,464,253 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $959,215,000 after buying an additional 11,220,403 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 38.3% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,229,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $270,196,000 after buying an additional 894,403 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,076,378 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $173,731,000 after buying an additional 617,269 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,211,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,189,048,000 after buying an additional 487,366 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 55.0% in the first quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,250,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $104,598,000 after buying an additional 443,669 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.48% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) traded down 0.61% during trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.33. 1,830,763 shares of the company were exchanged. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.32 and a 200-day moving average of $82.83. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.16 and a 52-week high of $95.22. The firm has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post $4.47 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

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Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Investment Research cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 19th. BidaskClub lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.78.

In other news, insider Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 93,125 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $8,528,387.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 165,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,116,377.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company. The Company owned and operated 1,536 restaurants through its subsidiaries in the United States and Canada, as of May 29, 2016. The Company’s segments include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (which includes The Capital Grille, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille (Eddie V’s)) and Other Business (which includes Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, consumer-packaged goods and franchise revenues).