2,822 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Bought by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 991,230 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 563,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total transaction of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,271.04. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $218.91 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $220.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.90 and its 200 day moving average is $203.19. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Argus boosted 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

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.