State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $40,048,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $192.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.76 and its 200-day moving average is $173.78.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.