Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 9,431 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 277,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,431 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $42,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $17,202,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,199,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6 %

DRI stock opened at $143.36 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.82. The company has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants 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.