Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 53,635 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 43.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 48.2% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,999 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 28.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,678 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.2 %

DRI stock opened at $192.28 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 2.91%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.