Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Purchases 129 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QV Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $7,944,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $777,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the 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 owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.80 on Wednesday, hitting $193.20. 58,708 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,089,084. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $194.70. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $178.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.43. The company has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently 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.