17,097 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Posted by Francis Steltz on Aug 21st, 2026

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,522,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $217.89 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $208.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.32. The company has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.