Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,784 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 31,740 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.10% of Darden Restaurants worth $22,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.37. 941,767 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,241,847. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $210.47. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $193.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.56. The firm has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.