Zink Doug 4

What Happened

• Doug Zink, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of Belden Inc. (BDC), exercised a total of 5,018 stock appreciation rights (SARs) across Feb 4–5, 2026. The exercises resulted in 1,937 shares being issued to him and 3,081 shares being withheld by the company to satisfy tax and withholding obligations. The 1,937 issued shares were sold in two transactions (485 shares on Feb 5 and 1,452 shares on Feb 6), generating gross proceeds of $255,620. The withheld shares had an aggregate value of $397,594 based on the reported FMVs at exercise.
• Aggregate exercise-related cash (exercise price amounts reported) totaled $282,976 (sum of reported exercise payments). The exercises used FMVs of $128.57 (Feb 4) and $129.36 (Feb 5) and exercise prices of $72.73, $51.14 and $45.11 per SAR.

Key Details

• Transaction dates and amounts:
  • Feb 4, 2026: 1,705 SARs exercised (exercise price $72.73) → 485 shares issued; 1,220 shares withheld (value $156,855).
  • Feb 5, 2026: 1,579 SARs exercised (exercise price $51.14) → 652 shares issued; 927 withheld (value $119,917).
  • Feb 5, 2026: 1,734 SARs exercised (exercise price $45.11) → 800 shares issued; 934 withheld (value $120,822).
  • Open-market sales: 485 shares sold on Feb 5 at $126.00 ($61,110); 1,452 shares sold on Feb 6 at $133.96 ($194,510). Total sale proceeds = $255,620.
• Shares exercised (SARs): 5,018; shares issued to Zink: 1,937; shares withheld by issuer: 3,081.
• Total reported value of shares withheld to issuer: $397,594. Total exercise payments reported: $282,976.
• Footnotes: Exercises and at least one sale were effected pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan (adopted Aug 12, 2025). Withholding shares were used to satisfy tax obligations (cashless exercise mechanism). The SARs were granted with staggered vesting (became exercisable in equal portions on first three anniversaries).
• Ownership after transaction: The filing excerpt provided does not state the insider’s total beneficial ownership post-transactions. Footnote indicates a balance held in Belden’s Retirement Savings Plan but no total ownership number was included here.
• Timeliness: Form was filed Feb 6, 2026 reporting Feb 4–6 transactions; no late filing is indicated in the provided data.

Context

• These were cashless SAR exercises: Zink exercised SARs (derivative awards) and instead of receiving full cash, the company issued a net number of shares and withheld additional shares to cover tax and withholding, while the net issued shares were sold under a 10b5-1 plan. This is a common, routine way for insiders to realize value from equity compensation and does not by itself indicate a personal view on the company’s prospects.
• For retail investors: purchases are generally more informative than routine exercises/sales. Here the activity is largely internal compensation realization and tax withholding rather than an outright personal purchase of stock.