Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,700 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $1.07 on Tuesday, reaching $199.74. 868,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,132,259. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $181.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.28. 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 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $200.90. The company has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

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.