Motco Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Motco trimmed its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its position in shares of 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. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $194.98 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $201.94. The firm has a market cap of $22.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.