Martin Melvin John 4

What Happened
Martin Melvin John, Group President of Darden Restaurants (DRI), exercised 5,091 stock options (code M) at a strike price of $124.24 on 2026-04-06 (exercise cost/value $632,506) and sold those 5,091 shares in the open market the same day (code S) at $196.04 for total proceeds of $998,040. The filing also shows a derivative disposition entry for 5,091 shares at $0, which reflects the cancellation/conversion of the exercised options.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-04-06; Filing date: 2026-04-07 (filed promptly).
• Exercise: 5,091 shares @ $124.24 = $632,506 (acquired via option exercise).
• Sale: 5,091 shares @ $196.04 = $998,040 (open-market sale).
• Net difference between proceeds and exercise cost ≈ $365,534 (not a tax-adjusted figure).
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified in the filing.
• Footnotes: F1 — includes shares acquired under the Darden Employee Stock Purchase Plan and dividend reinvestment; F2 — the option vested in two equal annual installments beginning July 24, 2022.
• Remarks reference a power-of-attorney filing (martin2026poa.txt).

Context
This was a same-day exercise-and-sale (a cashless exercise), meaning the options were exercised and the resulting shares were immediately sold. Such transactions are commonly routine liquidity events for insiders and do not by themselves indicate a change in company outlook. Transaction codes: M = option exercise/conversion; S = sale.