Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 133,973 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRIFree Report) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 133,973 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $37,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after buying an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 239.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,490,000 after buying an additional 509,655 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,948,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

DRI opened at $196.28 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $200.13 and a 200 day moving average of $194.77. The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRIGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.24.

Get Our Latest Report on Darden Restaurants

About Darden Restaurants

(Free Report)

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

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