New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 153,992 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,727 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $28,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third 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 increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third 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 increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens lifted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $194.84 on Friday. 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 $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

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.