Financial Counselors Inc. Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,426 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

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.