Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $2,816,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $206.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.73. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.