Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Off Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Representative Josh Gottheimer (Democratic-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI). In a filing disclosed on May 19th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $15,001 and $50,000 in Darden Restaurants stock on April 9th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – ACTIVE ASSET ACCOUNT # 3” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) on 4/28/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) on 4/27/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) on 4/24/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) on 4/24/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) on 4/23/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) on 4/16/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) on 4/15/2026.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of HDFC Bank (NYSE:HDB) on 4/13/2026.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Intapp (NASDAQ:INTA) on 4/13/2026.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) on 4/9/2026.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $197.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.47. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.24.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’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 transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.

Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.