State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $2.50 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,535 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 34.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $621,000. CX Institutional increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.2% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,099 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, QV Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 151.6% during the third quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 84,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,807,000 after purchasing an additional 50,690 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Oppenheimer boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $195.19 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $183.34 and its 200-day moving average is $167.88. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

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.