Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 1,307 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,815 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,307 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $11,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $171,288,000 after buying an additional 121,015 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded down $3.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $198.40. 313,096 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,283,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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%. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

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.