Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 4,414 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,036 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,414 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $195.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants 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.