Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $4.04 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 18,053 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th 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. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the 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 represents a 25.86% 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, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9%

DRI stock opened at $206.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $198.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants 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.