Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 593,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 875,533 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.51% of Darden Restaurants worth $110,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $192.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on DRI. UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.