Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $286,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $217.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $220.79.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.77.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.