Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,866,010 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 86,220 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.59% of Darden Restaurants worth $348,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted 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 period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 370,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,886. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $195.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00.

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Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,264 shares of company stock valued at $9,058,583. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.