Hantz Financial Services Inc. Has $247,000 Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,505 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 62,554 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $172.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.15. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $177.67. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

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.