Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,757 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 194,603 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,531,000 after purchasing an additional 5,134 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $336,000. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9 %

DRI stock traded up $1.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $209.60. 986,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,740. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $195.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.97. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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 2.67%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.