Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Hemenway Trust Co LLC

Hemenway Trust Co LLC decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,015 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,999 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 28.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,678 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 68.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup raised 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, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.28 on Friday. 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 one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.