Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 83.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,069 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 46,294 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $171,288,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush lifted their price objective 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, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $208.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $192.60 and a 200-day moving average of $177.21. The company has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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 $210.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. 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.