Fruge Mary Celeste 4

What Happened
Mary Celeste Fruge, Vice President and General Counsel of NPK International Inc. (NPKI), exercised 11,193 stock options on March 6, 2026 and immediately sold the 11,193 shares acquired. The options were exercised at $4.32 per share for a total exercise cost of $48,354; the shares were sold in the open market at a weighted-average price of $13.34 per share for total proceeds of $149,303 (gross), implying roughly $100,949 in pre-tax proceeds before fees.

Key Details

• Transaction date: March 6, 2026; Form 4 filed March 10, 2026 (timely filed).
• Exercise: 11,193 options exercised at $4.32 (total $48,354).
• Sale: 11,193 shares sold at weighted-average $13.34 (total $149,303); sale prices ranged $13.24–$13.48.
• Post-transaction shares owned: not disclosed in the provided filing excerpt.
• Footnote: The exercise and sale occurred automatically under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted Dec 5, 2025. Weighted-average sale price reported; reporter can provide per-trade prices on request.

Context
This was effectively a cashless exercise — options were exercised and the resulting shares were sold the same day under a prearranged 10b5-1 plan. Such automatic, plan-driven transactions are common and generally viewed as routine disposition rather than an ad hoc signal about company prospects.