Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $855,000 Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 69.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 171.7% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,334 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,003 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 88.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 5,973 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $630,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,241 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575 over the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Melius began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $188.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $199.61 and its 200-day moving average is $204.87. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.89 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.