Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Takes $4.40 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,403,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,736,000 after buying an additional 991,230 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after buying an additional 563,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Argus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Evercore cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $225.31 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $229.76. The company has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $206.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. 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.