First Merchants (FRME) CIO Stephan Fluhler Receives Award

What Happened

• Stephan Fluhler, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of First Merchants Corp (FRME), received a grant of 80.403 phantom shares on 2026-09-18. The grant was reported as a derivative award priced at $40.50 per share for a reported value of about $3,256. This was an award/grant (not an open-market purchase or sale).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-09-18; Filing date: 2026-09-22 (filed within the Form 4 two-business-day window).
• Instrument: Phantom stock (derivative award) — transaction code A (award/grant).
• Amount: 80.403 phantom shares at $40.50, reported value ≈ $3,256.
• Shares owned after transaction: Not stated in this Form 4.
• Footnote: Each phantom share is the economic equivalent of one share of FRME common stock and will be settled in cash or shares at the reporting person's election upon separation from First Merchants.

Context

• Phantom stock grants are a form of compensation that track the value of common shares but do not immediately transfer actual stock; they are settled later in cash or stock per the footnote. Such grants are routine compensation events and do not by themselves indicate buy/sell market sentiment.