Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Cut by First Financial Bank Trust Division

First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,148 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,986 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $1.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $215.55. The stock had a trading volume of 342,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,802. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.10. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $215.93. The stock has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.