Hopper Jonathan Mark 4

What Happened
Jonathan Mark Hopper, Chief Medical Officer of Vericel Corp (VCEL), exercised options to acquire 3,472 shares and immediately sold those 3,472 shares in an open-market transaction on April 2, 2026. The exercise recorded a cash cost of $10.95 per share ($38,018 total); the sale was at $35.00 per share for $121,520, producing a gross difference of $83,502 before taxes and fees. The Form 4 shows a related derivative reporting line (zero-dollar entry) consistent with option conversion mechanics.

Key Details

• Transaction date: April 2, 2026. Form 4 filed April 6, 2026 (timely filing).
• Exercise: 3,472 shares exercised at $10.95 each = $38,018 (code M).
• Sale: 3,472 shares sold at $35.00 each = $121,520 (code S).
• Filing notes: Sale was effected automatically under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted May 30, 2025 (Footnote F2).
• Footnote F1: Some reported shares include acquisitions via the issuer’s 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) exempt under Rule 16b-3.
• Footnote F3: The underlying options relate to a grant covering 135,000 shares that became initially exercisable Aug 20, 2019 with a standard vesting schedule.
• Shares owned after transaction: not reported in the provided details.

Context
This was an option exercise paired with an immediate sale (commonly a "cashless" or same-day sale) executed under a pre-established 10b5-1 plan — a routine mechanism insiders use to sell shares while avoiding questions about contemporaneous trading. Such sales are often procedural and do not, by themselves, indicate management sentiment about the company.