2,900 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 25,925 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,840,000 after acquiring an additional 6,152 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3,730.0% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 9,958 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 9,698 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,464.8% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 70,903 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $13,237,000 after buying an additional 66,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $6,810,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of DRI traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $194.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,109,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,397. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $195.89 and a 200 day moving average of $181.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00.

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Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.