Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,395 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. TD Securities raised their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE DRI opened at $207.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.

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