Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $195.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. 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 50-day moving average is $183.34 and its 200-day moving average is $167.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

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.