Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,260 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 2,977 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3%

DRI stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $214.30. 1,415,696 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,366. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $215.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $202.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.