Wedbush Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $220.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Wedbush from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.28% from the stock’s previous close. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q4 2025 earnings at $2.99 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.03 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $3.32 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $166.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.25. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% 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.