Tobam Acquires Shares of 4,397 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Tobam bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,397 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $809,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after buying an additional 322,079 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after acquiring an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $771,020,000 after acquiring an additional 68,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $537,001,000 after acquiring an additional 251,246 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.04.

More Darden Restaurants News

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer reaffirmed an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $235, suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects earnings growth in Darden’s upcoming quarterly report, and Zacks said the company appears positioned for a potential earnings beat, which can support the stock ahead of results. Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketWatch noted Darden’s shares rose in Thursday trading, but the stock still lagged the broader market, indicating only modest momentum rather than a clear catalyst-driven move. MarketWatch
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent analyst and preview articles highlight that investors are awaiting Darden’s fiscal Q4 results and are focused on operating metrics beyond revenue and EPS, but these pieces are more about positioning than a new fundamental development. The Globe and Mail
• Negative Sentiment: Stephens reaffirmed an Equal Weight rating with a $210 target, implying limited downside/upside from current levels and reflecting a more cautious stance than bullish peers. Tickerreport.com

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

DRI stock opened at $213.58 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.