Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI): Insiders Were Dumping in Q1 2025

We recently published a list of 20 Stocks Insiders Were Selling In Q1 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) stands against other stocks insiders were selling in Q1 2025.

The broader market index rose 0.2% on Tuesday amid volatility as investors awaited clarity on President Trump’s tariff policy. The market also faced pressure from weaker-than-expected economic data, including a disappointing manufacturing survey and lower-than-expected job openings, according to CNBC. The blue chip companies and Nasdaq Composite also saw modest gains, with the market continuing to react to uncertainty.

As this market uncertainty persists, insider trading often draws attention. While executive stock purchases can signal optimism, insider sales may stem from personal financial reasons or diversification needs. Executives typically follow pre-arranged plans, like 10b5-1, to ensure transparency. Insider trading offers insights but should be considered alongside a company’s financial health and market conditions.

Our Methodology

What are some of the stocks that insiders have been selling the most in the first quarter of the year? To find out, we used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener, focusing only on stocks where at least five insiders had sold shares in January, February, or March. From there, we ranked the 20 stocks with the highest number of insiders selling shares.

Today, we’re focusing on stocks that insiders have been heavily selling during the first three months of the year. Using Insider Monkey’s insider trading screener, we identified stocks where at least five insider sales totaled $1 million or more. While the overall value of insider sales for these stocks may be higher, we specifically focused on sales worth $1 million or more. From the stocks that met this criterion, we selected the 20 with the highest number of insider sales of $1 million or more.

Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

With each stock, we note the average price per share of these purchases and the stock’s market capitalization.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Total value of insider sales in Q1: $20.50 million

Insiders with $1M+ sales: 8

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) owns and operates a variety of full-service restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Yard House, among others. The company is based in Orlando, Florida.

In a recent development, Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) announced a partnership update with Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER), revealing that Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen will pilot on-demand delivery in 10 restaurants, with Uber Direct handling the deliveries. If successful, Cheddar’s plans to expand the service across more locations.

In January and March, 11 insiders, including the president and CEO, sold approximately $20.50 million worth of Darden Restaurants shares at an average price of $200.53 per share. Year-to-date, the stock is up 11.29%, trading at $207.76 per share. Over the past 12 months, Darden Restaurants rose 24.23%.

For the fiscal 2025 third quarter, Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) reported total sales of $3.2 billion, up 6.2% year-over-year. Diluted earnings per share were $2.74, compared to diluted earnings per share of $2.60 in the same period of fiscal 2024. For the full year of fiscal 2025, the company projects total sales of $12.1 billion and same-restaurant sales growth of approximately 1.4%.

Mad Money host Jim Cramer recently commented on the stock and said, “Darden, Darden, I’ll talk about Darden. You won’t go to olive [inaudible], I’ve been there. But it’s a restaurant chain. It’s not like a blow away restaurant chain, it’s like an okay restaurant chain. It reports an okay number. And the stock goes up huge.”

Twenty-six analysts rate Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) stock as “Buy,” with a 12-month stock price target of $201.69. The average price target suggests a downside of 2.92% from the latest price.

Overall, DRI ranks 3rd on our list of stocks insiders were selling in Q1 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of DRI our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DRI but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.