National Pension Service Purchases 3,903 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

National Pension Service increased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $37,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after buying an additional 284,814 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,071,746,000 after acquiring an additional 100,270 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,988,000 after purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,418,000 after purchasing an additional 175,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares in the last quarter. 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 on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty research 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 price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $200.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.