Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3,730.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,958 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 9,698 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants accounts for about 0.7% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after purchasing an additional 102,888 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % 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 valued at $11,947,346 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.3 %

DRI stock traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $194.55. 311,414 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,426. The company has a market cap of $22.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $196.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.86.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. 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 business earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.