Kawiecki Michele 4

What Happened
Michele Kawiecki, Chief Financial Officer of First Merchants Corp (FRME), had 1,782 shares withheld on Feb 8, 2026 to satisfy a tax obligation tied to equity awards. The shares were valued at $42.34 each, for a total of about $75,450. This was a tax-withholding/disposition (transaction code F), not an open-market sale or purchase.

Key Details

• Transaction date and price: 2026-02-08 at $42.34 per share (total ≈ $75,450).
• Transaction type: F — payment of exercise price or tax liability via share withholding (disposition).
• Shares owned after transaction: not explicitly stated in the provided filing excerpt.
• Footnote: filing notes Restricted Stock Awards totaling 37,430.843 shares (per F1).
• Filing timeliness: report filed 2026-02-10 for a 2026-02-08 transaction (appears timely under Form 4 rules).

Context
An F-code withholding is a routine administrative step when restricted stock vests or options are exercised and taxes are due: the company retains (withholds) some shares to cover tax obligations. This is not an open-market sale and generally should not be interpreted as a bearish signal about the company.