Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 4,543 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,112 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,543 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE DRI traded down $0.85 on Wednesday, hitting $201.80. 945,199 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,287,288. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $196.53 and a 200-day moving average of $182.88. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.