De Lange Bob 4

What Happened
Bob De Lange, Group President of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), exercised 28,034 stock options on Feb 6, 2026 (exercise price $138.35, total exercise cost $3,878,504) and immediately disposed of the shares. To cover the exercise cost/tax withholding, 5,378 shares were withheld (valued at a weighted average $721.12, ~$3.88M). He sold the remaining 22,656 shares in the open market at an average price of $720.11 for total proceeds of about $16.3M. In effect this was a cashless exercise where the exercised shares were used to satisfy the exercise/tax obligation and the remainder sold.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-02-06 (reported on Form 4 filed 2026-02-09). Filing appears timely.
• Options exercised: 28,034 shares at $138.35 (total exercise = $3,878,504).
• Tax withholding/payment: 5,378 shares withheld/disposed at weighted avg $721.12 (total ~ $3,878,183). Footnote: withholding executed in multiple trades at $720.02–$721.01; weighted avg reported.
• Open-market sale: 22,656 shares sold @ $720.11 (total proceeds ~ $16,314,812).
• Options grant info: granted under Caterpillar Inc. 2014 Long‑Term Incentive Plan on March 4, 2019; vesting occurred in 1/3 increments over the first three anniversaries (per footnote).
• Shares owned after the transaction: not specified in the provided excerpt of the filing.
• Transaction codes: M = option exercise, F = tax/exercise withholding, S = open-market sale.

Context

• This is a common pattern called a cashless exercise: the insider exercised vested options and used a portion of the resulting shares to cover exercise price and taxes, selling the remainder on the open market.
• Sales do not necessarily indicate negative sentiment; they often reflect planned option exercises, tax obligations, or diversification. No 10% owner status or 10b5-1 plan was noted in the provided filing.