California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 12,434 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 12,434 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Darden Restaurants worth $32,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $322,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $15,175,000. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $701,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $214.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,415,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,366. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $202.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.80. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $216.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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.