Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 17,810 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,476 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 17,810 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st 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 increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st 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. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the 1st 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DRI traded down $1.12 on Monday, reaching $203.37. The stock had a trading volume of 114,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,354,778. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.10 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.32.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 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 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.