Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 8,582 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,582 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.29% of Darden Restaurants worth $64,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%

DRI opened at $200.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $208.05 and a 200 day moving average of $194.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $23.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.63.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.