Capital World Investors Has $2.79 Billion Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital World Investors increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,925,835 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 26,842 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 12.74% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,786,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.9 %

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $200.04. The stock had a trading volume of 426,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,874. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $196.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.88. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lifted 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.