Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,427 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $49,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0 %

DRI opened at $195.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

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.