Martingale Asset Management L P Reduces Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,091 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 501 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $191.81 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.86. 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 cap of $22.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s 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 $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.