Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $11.68 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,551 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,764 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $11,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SFE Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $667,000. MGB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,731,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE DRI traded down $2.01 on Thursday, reaching $194.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,133,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,293. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $186.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.12. 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, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $192.52.

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.