Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 31,740 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $22,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

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.