Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Has $202,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 98.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,231 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 91,018 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,911,012,000 after buying an additional 362,658 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,380,814,000 after acquiring an additional 455,588 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,576,948 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $369,070,000 after acquiring an additional 52,864 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,561,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $396,532,000 after acquiring an additional 54,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,290,224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $328,006,000 after acquiring an additional 200,342 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.68 on Thursday, reaching $152.29. 890,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,151,902. The stock has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.62.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

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.