Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 18,733 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Posted by Stanley Muller on Aug 31st, 2026

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 18,733 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,853,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $215.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The firm has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $209.00 and its 200-day moving average is $204.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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 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 $230.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on DRI

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.