Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $36.53 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 194,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,134 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $36,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $336,000. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 461,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,517 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $204.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

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.