Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $788,000 Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 53.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,282 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,879 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,556,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. AGP Franklin LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,418,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $194.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $198.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on DRI. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.