5,611 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $221.81 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.