Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $3.56 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 85.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 102,654 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total transaction of $1,514,882.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,132,006. This represents a 32.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten 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 $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2%

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $214.82. The company had a trading volume of 180,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,794. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm's fifty day moving average is $213.15 and its 200-day moving average is $200.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

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

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change 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 2.79%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

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.