Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 261 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $166.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.