Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 22,730 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 68.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,635 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 22,730 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 39,795 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,429,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Running Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 83,201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $15,533,000 after purchasing an additional 5,878 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $200.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 974,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,399. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $201.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.52. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.