Hanson John Edward 4

What Happened
John Edward Hanson, President of Pet Consumer Products at Central Garden & Pet Co. (CENT), exercised stock options on 2026-06-24 to acquire 8,518 shares of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $35.22 per share (aggregate exercise cost reported as $299,970). To satisfy the exercise price and related tax obligations, the company withheld 8,051 shares valued at an average price of $38.85 ($312,781). The option instrument itself was converted (reported disposed at $0) upon exercise. Net shares delivered to Mr. Hanson after withholding were 467 shares (8,518 acquired less 8,051 withheld).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-06-24; Form 4 filed 2026-06-26 (timely filing).
• Exercise: 8,518 shares @ $35.22 = $299,970 (option exercise, code M).
• Withholding/disposition: 8,051 shares withheld @ $38.85 = $312,781 (tax/exercise withholding, code F).
• Net new shares to insider: 467 shares retained after withholding.
• Notable footnotes:
  • F1/F5: Option size was adjusted after a Dec 7, 2023 stock dividend — the original 6,815-share option effectively became exercisable for 8,518 shares (including 1,703 additional shares for no consideration).
  • F3: Shares were withheld by the issuer to pay the aggregate option exercise price and tax liabilities; withheld amount based on the average of the high and low sales prices on the exercise date.
  • F6: Options were granted Feb 9, 2021 and had vested prior to this exercise.
  • F2: Hanson disclaims beneficial ownership of shares held by the Hanson Family Trust except to the extent of his pecuniary interest.
• Shares owned after the transaction are not specified in the provided data.

Context: This was an option exercise with issuer withholding to cover exercise costs and taxes (a common "cashless" settlement method). The filing shows conversion of the option into shares rather than an open-market sale of additional shares, so this is primarily an exercise event with taxes paid via share withholding rather than a cash sale.