Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 4,695 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,744,441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,695 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.73% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,565,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $171,288,000 after buying an additional 121,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.43 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $210.47. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.09 and a 200-day moving average of $177.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. 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.