New England Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,050 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

New England Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,710 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,050 shares during the quarter. New England Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th 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 period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,117,000 after buying an additional 158,168 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $2.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $211.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,316,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,303,312. The firm's fifty day moving average is $198.66 and its 200 day moving average is $187.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% 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 ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. 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. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price 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. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.