Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,728,000 after acquiring an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,013 shares of company stock valued at $412,738. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $193.41 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.18 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.17.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.59.

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.