Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Position Cut by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 353,645 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 30,270 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.30% of Darden Restaurants worth $66,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $3.98 on Friday, hitting $203.84. The stock had a trading volume of 820,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,273,784. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. 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's 50 day moving average is $197.25 and its 200-day moving average is $184.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. 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 company posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.