Asbury Automotive (ABG) CFO Michael Welch Sells Shares for Taxes

What Happened Michael Welch, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Asbury Automotive Group (ABG), had a total of 463 shares of ABG common stock withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations tied to the vesting of equity awards. The withholding covered 171 shares at $229.44 ($39,234) and 292 shares at $229.44 ($66,996), for a combined value of approximately $106,230. These disposals are tax-withholding events (transaction code F), not open-market sales.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-02-14; Filing date (Form 4): 2026-02-18 — filing appears timely.
• Price: $229.44 per share for both withholding events.
• Shares withheld/ disposed: 171 shares (F1) and 292 shares (F2) — total 463 shares.
• Total value of shares withheld: ~$106,230.
• Footnotes: F1 = shares withheld for taxes upon vesting of one-third of restricted share units granted 2/14/2023; F2 = shares withheld for taxes upon vesting of one-third of performance share units granted 2/14/2023.
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the provided filing excerpt.

Context These transactions are routine tax-withholding dispositions that occur when restricted share units (RSUs) and performance share units (PSUs) vest; shares are retained or sold to cover the holder’s tax liability rather than indicating an independent decision to sell stock in the market. For retail investors, tax-withholdings on vesting are common and generally less informative about an insider’s view of the company than voluntary open-market purchases or sales.