Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $51.16 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,055 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,688 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $51,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 390,672 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $72,935,000 after buying an additional 5,583 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,819 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 20,283 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,787,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,449 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $203.71. The company had a trading volume of 197,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,720. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.21. The firm has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value 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 $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.