New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 4,800 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 152,674 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $29,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAM Holding AG boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its stake 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 period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, apricus wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. 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. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

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.