Hagen Heidi 4

What Happened
Heidi Hagen, a director of Vericel Corp (VCEL), exercised stock options and sold shares on March 23, 2026. The filing shows: exercise of 15,000 options at $2.76/share (cost $41,400), an open-market sale of 15,000 shares at $32.41/share (proceeds $486,150), and a related derivative conversion of 15,000 shares reported with a $0.00 exercise price. The sale was executed under an automatic Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-03-23 (Form 4 filed 2026-03-25; appears timely)
• Exercise: 15,000 shares @ $2.76 = $41,400 (transaction code M)
• Sale: 15,000 shares @ $32.41 = $486,150 (transaction code S)
• Additional derivative entry: 15,000 shares @ $0.00 (transaction code M) as reported
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the provided excerpt
• Footnotes:
  • F1: Sale was automatic under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted 11/14/2024
  • F2: Options (15,000) were granted 5/4/2016 and vested over one year
  • F3: Those options would expire/be forfeitable on 5/4/2026

Context

• This appears to be an option exercise followed by a same-day sale — commonly a cashless exercise or sale-to-cover scenario. The sale being executed under a pre-established 10b5-1 plan indicates it was automated and planned in advance rather than a discretionary, after-the-fact decision.
• M = option exercise/conversion; S = sale. These transactions are routine for option holders approaching option expiration and do not by themselves indicate the director’s private view of the company’s prospects.