California State Teachers Retirement System Has $28.28 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,204 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.14% of Darden Restaurants worth $28,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,183,000 after acquiring an additional 234,410 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,867,000 after buying an additional 82,356 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 978,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $163,615,000 after acquiring an additional 16,454 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.95.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.36. 1,841,480 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,219,355. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.17 and a 200-day moving average of $156.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.