Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $336,000. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 461,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $86,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 408.0% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 10,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after buying an additional 8,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $207.90 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. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.98.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DRI. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,022 shares of company stock worth $13,183,803 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.