Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 6,427 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 6,427 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $49,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. lifted 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 valued at $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $1.12 on Tuesday, reaching $194.19. 895,457 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,080,402. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.34 and a 200-day moving average of $167.88. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 2.88%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % 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 Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.