22,798 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by SCS Capital Management LLC

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,798 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $4,697,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the fourth 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 991,230 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $204,099,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $144,483,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $113,301,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $225.31 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $206.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.

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