Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 56,878 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich sharply reduced its Darden Restaurants stake in the fourth quarter, selling 56,878 shares and cutting its holdings by 97.4% to just 1,530 shares worth about $281,000.
• Darden posted a solid quarterly report, earning $2.95 per share versus the $2.94 estimate and generating $3.35 billion in revenue, up 5.9% year over year.
• The company continues to return cash to shareholders with a $1.50 quarterly dividend ($6.00 annualized), while analysts remain cautiously positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226.24.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 97.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 56,878 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $196.15 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $198.34 and its 200-day moving average is $195.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.24.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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