Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $7.52 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,260 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,977 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3,506.7% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 587,571 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $109,694,000 after buying an additional 30,909 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $334,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE:DRI opened at $213.97 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.61 and its 200 day moving average is $190.01. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $214.52.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.