Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,744,441 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,695 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.73% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,565,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 408.0% during the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 10,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,032,000 after buying an additional 8,740 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 83,951 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $15,673,000 after acquiring an additional 13,682 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,561,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 514,392 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $96,031,000 after acquiring an additional 8,786 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 11,136 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded down $3.10 on Friday, reaching $204.89. The company had a trading volume of 798,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,275,775. The company's fifty day moving average is $194.62 and its 200 day moving average is $178.62. The company has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.