Aviva PLC Has $13.24 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Aviva PLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1,464.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,903 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 66,372 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,678 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 68.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 226.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 109,034 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,896,000 after buying an additional 75,617 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE DRI traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $194.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,109,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,848. The firm's 50 day moving average is $195.89 and its 200 day moving average is $181.14. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

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.