Bast Christopher J 4

What Happened

• Christopher J. Bast, Senior Vice President, Treasurer & Ops Support at Davey Tree, had Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) automatically exercised. The filing shows a gross payout of 8,400 common shares valued at $8.18/share (total $68,712).
• To cover tax liabilities, 4,742 of those shares were withheld (2,490 + 2,252 shares) at a valuation of $27.60/share (total tax withholding ≈ $130,879). That leaves a net 3,658 shares retained by Bast from this SARs settlement.
• The SARs were auto-exercised on March 4, 2026 (the 10th anniversary of the grant); the company completed share/valuation calculations and recorded the transactions on March 27, 2026.

Key Details

• Transaction date(s): March 27, 2026 (SAR processing/completion); SARs auto-exercised March 4, 2026 per footnote.
• Report filed: March 30, 2026 (timely for the March 27 report date).
• Gross shares issued from SARs: 8,400 @ $8.18 = $68,712.
• Shares withheld for taxes: 2,490 @ $27.60 = $68,724 and 2,252 @ $27.60 = $62,155 (total withheld ≈ $130,879).
• Net shares retained from this event: 3,658 (8,400 − 4,742).
• Additional routine holding: Form notes accumulation of 12,781.2772 shares via the company 401(k) plan as of March 30, 2026.
• Transaction codes: M = exercise/conversion of derivative (SARs); F = payment of exercise price or tax liability (shares withheld).
• No indication of a late filing in this report.

Context

• This was an automatic SARs exercise and a cashless-style settlement: SARs converted to shares, and shares were delivered back to the company to satisfy tax withholding rather than a separate cash payment.
• These transactions are routine for SARs payouts and tax withholding; they report conversion and withholding rather than an open-market buy or sell that might signal new sentiment.