Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Lowers Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 580 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was 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 link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $194.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $195.89 and a 200 day moving average of $181.05.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

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.