Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,821 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,184 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during 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 period. QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5 %

DRI stock opened at $204.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.47. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.