Capital International Sarl Buys 2,796 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,814 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,622,000 after buying an additional 193,134 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,556,000 after acquiring an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.7 %

DRI stock traded down $3.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $198.40. The company had a trading volume of 313,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,497. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. 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 $23.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

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.