Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,586 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 23,478 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $11,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other 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 value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $204.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.62. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

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.