Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 405,945 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 9,349 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.35% of Darden Restaurants worth $75,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $207.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,231,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,305,836. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.61. The company has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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. This represents 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 valued at $5,121,492 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.