New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,992 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,727 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $28,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:DRI traded down $3.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $191.12. 1,385,016 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,371. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business's 50-day moving average price is $187.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.