69,679 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 69,679 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $14,355,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. owned 0.06% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. BTIG Research upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $225.31 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $206.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.68. The stock has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

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.