2,951 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $562,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $192.70 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.14.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.39.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.