National Pension Service Has $35.74 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,828 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $35,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $200.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $190.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.50.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.