Northern Trust Corp Acquires 158,168 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $269,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $55,622,000 after purchasing an additional 193,134 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $202.65. The stock had a trading volume of 520,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,268,957. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.21. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

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.