M&T Bank Corp Sells 16,582 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in Darden by 55.2% in Q4, selling 16,582 shares and leaving it with 13,455 shares valued at about $2.48 million.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — SVP Douglas Milanes sold 3,620 shares for roughly $731,819 and SVP Lindsay Koren sold 300 shares — and insiders now own about 0.49% of the stock.
• Analysts are broadly positive with a "Moderate Buy" consensus and an average target of $226.24; Darden slightly beat Q4 EPS estimates ($2.95 vs $2.94) and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 (annualized yield ~3.0%) payable May 1.

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 55.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,455 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 16,582 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,556,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,467 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $198.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.41 and a 200-day moving average of $194.32. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.