Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,306 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,087 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,343,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,022 shares of company stock worth $13,183,803 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE DRI traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $207.90. 954,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,240,492. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $210.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.77. The firm has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.