Schroder Investment Management Group Has $3.84 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,547 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,382 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $195,422,000 after acquiring an additional 102,888 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $4.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $190.78. The stock had a trading volume of 275,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,424. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $196.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.72. The firm has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.