Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells 2,289 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $206.42. 128,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,271,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.62. The company has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

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Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.

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.