Cresset Asset Management LLC Trims Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cresset Asset Management LLC cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 76.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,223 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 10,233 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,446,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $211.42. 2,316,150 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,303,312. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $199.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.82. The stock has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 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.