Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,328 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 592,222 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,328 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.51% of Darden Restaurants worth $123,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $209.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,052,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,504. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $138.21 and a one year high of $228.27. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $214.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $201.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.