Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 13,347 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $42,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,995,000 after acquiring an additional 163,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $187.69 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $189.18. The stock has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.36.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.