Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 41,958 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 41,958 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $213.58 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.17 and its 200 day moving average is $199.70. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.04.

Key Headlines Impacting Darden Restaurants

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.