AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,967 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 14,144 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $16,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,832,000 after buying an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 85,390 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $15,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4 %
NYSE DRI traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $198.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,321,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,269,194. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.91.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America raised 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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