UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 1,622 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,366 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,207,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,615 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 74,065 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.7% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 121.1% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,903 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded up $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.60. 986,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,275,740. The company has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $195.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.97.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.