Darden (DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas Exercises RSUs, Sells Shares

What Happened

• Ricardo Cardenas, President, CEO and Director of Darden Restaurants (DRI), had restricted stock units (RSUs/PRSUs) convert into common shares on July 26–27, 2026 (transaction code M). A total of 44,336 shares were issued to him at $0.00 (one-for-one conversion).
• To satisfy tax withholding obligations (transaction code F), 17,449 of those shares were withheld/sold at $196.31 per share, generating approximately $3,425,413 in proceeds. Net of withholding, Cardenas received about 26,887 shares.

Key Details

• Transaction dates: July 26 and July 27, 2026.
• Conversion/exercise price: $0.00 (RSU/PRSU one-for-one conversion per footnotes).
• Withholding/sale price for tax payment: $196.31 / share; total proceeds ≈ $3,425,413 (4,442; 4,575; 8,432 shares withheld on the listed dates).
• Net shares retained from this event: 26,887 (44,336 converted − 17,449 withheld).
• Relevant footnotes: PRSUs and RSUs convert 1-for-1 (F1, F3). Grants vest in two equal annual installments beginning July 26, 2026 (F4) and July 27, 2025 (F5). Filing notes inclusion of ESPP/dividend reinvestment in share counts (F2).
• Filing: Form 4 filed July 29, 2026, covering transactions on July 26–27 — appears timely; no 10% owner or 10b5-1 plan indicated in the filing.

Context

• These transactions are routine equity award vesting and tax-withholding actions, not open-market purchases. The RSUs/PRSUs converted to shares (no cash exercise cost), and a portion was withheld/sold to cover taxes — a common post-vesting step rather than an expressed buy or sell decision about the company's stock.
• For retail investors: award vesting increases insider shareholdings (here a net gain of 26,887 shares), while the withholding sale is administrative and does not necessarily signal the insider’s view on the stock.