Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,550 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 875,533 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.51% of Darden Restaurants worth $110,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $5.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $189.44. 406,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,282,930. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.