Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Sells 24,133 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 24,133 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after purchasing an additional 629,669 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 45.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 192.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,980,000 after purchasing an additional 579,759 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $125,521,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.73. The stock has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.