DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 25,090 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,696 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 25,090 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $45,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $239,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 265 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,202,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 71,691 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $11,777,000 after buying an additional 22,040 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on DRI shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $2.16 on Friday, reaching $156.35. 1,467,406 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,796. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.43 and a 200-day moving average of $158.04. The company has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,340 shares of company stock valued at $3,013,601 in the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.