Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 7,770 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 614,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,770 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.53% of Darden Restaurants worth $116,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $208.68 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.92 and a 200-day moving average of $194.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 16,512 shares of company stock worth $3,468,016 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.