First Merchants (FRME) CEO Mark Hardwick Receives 21,000 Shares

What Happened
Mark K. Hardwick, CEO of First Merchants Corp (FRME), received a grant/award of 21,000 shares on 2026-08-03 at an effective price/value of $43.63 per share (total ≈ $916,230). On 2026-08-02, 5,821 shares were disposed of under code F (payment of exercise price or tax liability) at $43.14 per share (total ≈ $251,118), consistent with shares being withheld to cover taxes or exercise costs.

Key Details

• Transaction dates and amounts:
  • 2026-08-02: 5,821 shares withheld/disposed at $43.14 — proceeds/cover ≈ $251,118 (code F: tax/price payment).
  • 2026-08-03: 21,000 shares awarded/acquired at $43.63 — value ≈ $916,230 (code A: award/grant).
• Shares owned after transaction: Not specified in the filing.
• Footnotes:
  • F1: Filing notes Restricted Stock Awards totaling 65,384.128 shares (reported holdings/awards).
  • F2: Phantom stock units are economically equivalent to FRME common shares and will be settled in cash or shares at separation, at the reporting person’s election.
• Filing timeliness: Filing date 2026-08-04; transactions reported appear to have been filed in the standard Form 4 window (no late filing noted in the report).

Context
The 5,821-share disposition is a tax/price-withholding action (common when awards vest or options are exercised) rather than a market sale signaling intent. The 21,000‑share item is an award/grant — purchases or awards can be seen as a retention/compensation event rather than an open‑market bullish bet. The phantom stock footnote means some awards may be settled in cash instead of actual shares depending on the CEO’s election at separation.