Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of Darden Restaurants worth $44,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 177.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,022 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the third quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.8% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 8,236 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 42.6% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 138,731 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,409,000 after buying an additional 41,464 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 3,156 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of DRI opened at $213.51 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.86. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’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 forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

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.