Swiss National Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank trimmed its Darden stake by 4.8% in Q3, selling 17,000 shares and leaving 337,300 shares (about 0.29% of the company) worth roughly $64.21 million.
• Insider sales accelerated recently: SVP Susan Connelly sold 2,635 shares at ~$207.36 and Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares at ~$207.12, with insiders offloading 18,770 shares (~$3.95M) in the last 90 days and now owning 0.49% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus (20 Buys, 9 Holds) with an average target of $224.33; Darden set FY2026 EPS guidance of $10.50–$10.70, posted a slight quarterly EPS miss ($2.08 vs. $2.10), and pays a $6.00 annual dividend (~2.9% yield).

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Darden Restaurants worth $64,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% 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 Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $207.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.76. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

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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