Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Holdings Lowered by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,911 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Darden Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Darden to $240 from $230 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in additional upside after the quarter. UBS price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $236 from $230 and kept a buy rating, citing room for continued gains. Deutsche Bank price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG, Stephens, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird and others also raised targets after reviewing the quarter, which reinforces the market’s view that Darden’s brand strength and long-term earnings power remain intact. Analysts boost forecasts after Darden Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: The company beat fiscal Q4 EPS estimates, reported 13.7% year-over-year revenue growth, raised its quarterly dividend 8%, and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, all of which are supportive for shareholder returns. Darden fiscal 2026 results and capital return actions
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s fiscal 2027 guidance was slightly below Wall Street’s EPS expectations and revenue came in just under forecasts, which tempers the post-earnings enthusiasm. Darden earnings coverage from CNBC
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that Olive Garden and other comparable sales trends were mixed, suggesting that not all brands are accelerating evenly despite LongHorn Steakhouse’s strength. Mixed Q4 results and brand performance for Darden

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE DRI opened at $213.79 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $222.56. The company has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $201.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.