Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 62,551 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $11,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew 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 valued at $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $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% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $190.83 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.22. 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 market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.