Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 223.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,549,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,472 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,573,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,646,000 after buying an additional 532,340 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,380,814,000 after buying an additional 455,588 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after buying an additional 418,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $209,110,000 after buying an additional 394,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $152.49 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $165.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.65. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.