Tredje AP fonden Sells 9,378 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tredje AP fonden cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,378 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,378 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,092 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $411,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,795 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $186.27 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.38. The company has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

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.