Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 543 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 543 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $192.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

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.