Twin Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,531 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 102,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $3.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $198.41. 273,274 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,095. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $195.89 and a 200 day moving average of $181.14. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on DRI shares. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.