Berry Wealth Group LP Lowers Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Berry Wealth Group LP cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 91.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,857 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants accounts for about 0.8% of Berry Wealth Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Berry Wealth Group LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $206.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $205.73 and a 200 day moving average of $194.95. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The business’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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.89%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value 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. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.