Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,586 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 21,228 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.37% of Darden Restaurants worth $81,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during 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. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $2.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $194.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,109,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,848. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The business's 50-day moving average price is $195.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.14.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during 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%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

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.