Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 102,654 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 85.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 164,342 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,132,006. This represents a 32.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $3.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $209.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,466,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,628. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.60.

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.