Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 56.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents 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 68,022 shares of company stock valued at $13,183,803 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants 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.