Every month, Compliance Week publishes a list of the largest stock option grants and restricted stock awards during the previous period. The data and analysis are provided by compensation research firm Equilar.

THE DATA

Please note that all values are rough “face value” numbers that are calculated by data provider Equilar by multiplying the number of shares in the grant by the market price per share on the grant date.

Latest Data

The spreadsheet below will include the “Top 10” lists for each month in 2009 as they become available.

View the Top Equity Awards Made in March

Prior Years’ Data

View Equity Awards From Each Month in 2008

View Equity Awards From Each Month in 2007

View Equity Awards From Each Month in 2006

View Equity Awards From Each Month in 2005

View Equity Awards From Each Month in 2004

Source: Equilar Inc.

Johnson

The largest grant of stock options in March went to Jay Johnson, vice-chairman of defense contractor General Dynamics. He received a grant of 848,600 options on March 4 with an exercise price of $40.09, implying a face value of $34 million. As a defense contractor working on long-term deals with the government, General Dynamics is more insulated from the recession and has reported solid financial results and contract wins. On the same day Johnson received his grant, the company announced an increase in its dividend; it reported increased revenue and income from 2008 in January.

Other companies giving large grants of stock options in March included Davita, Google, Comcast, and Marvel Entertainment.

The largest restricted stock award last month went to Patrick Pichette, the CFO of Google. (Google employees also took three other slots on the list of 10 largest stock grants in March.) On March 4, Pichette received 34,138 shares worth nearly $10.9 million, based on a grant-date price of $318.92. The other Google employees all received grants of 17,069 shares on the same day, worth $5.4 million. Google had reported solid 2008 earnings in January, although net income took a tailspin in the last quarter.

Other companies doling out large stock awards in March were Comcast, Dell, and Ross Stores.

A downloadable spreadsheet of those awards can be found in the box above, right.

Trends, Performance

According to Equilar, performance-based grants were the order of business in March; in a break from the last few months, no “premium-priced” grants or grants with shorter-term lengths were issued. (Premium-priced grants and shorter terms had been common for the last several years, until the stock market crash last fall made both types of grants much more rare.)

Performance-based grants, however, remain common. For example, on March 3, Bristol-Myers Squibb granted options to 11 executives with the following performance-based criteria:

“Option is not exercisable until the closing share price of common stock achieves a price of at least 15 percent above the option grant price and remains at that price for seven consecutive trading days. Option vests 25 percent of the shares annually, on a cumulative basis, commencing one year after the date of grant, but may not be exercised until the threshold is satisfied.”

And on March 5, PolyOne granted stock appreciation rights to eight executives with the following performance-based criteria:

“SARs become exercisable and vest one-third on the attainment of 10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent stock appreciation (which must be maintained for a minimum of three consecutive trading days) from the grant date closing price of $1.43 per share, with no more than one-third vesting per year during the first three years.”

Companies also gave awards of restricted stock with performance-based conditions attached. For example, on March 4, Priceline.com granted restricted stock units to eight executives with the following performance-based criteria:

The restricted stock units will be forfeited if the company’s common stock does not achieve and maintain certain stock price thresholds. Subject to certain provisions allowing for accelerated vesting in certain instances, including, without limitation, upon a “change in control” and/or termination of employment, 50 percent, 75 percent, or 100 percent of the restricted stock units will vest if certain stock price thresholds are achieved and maintained for 20 consecutive trading days during the six-month period preceding the March 4, 2012, vesting date.

A downloadable spreadsheet of the top 10 equity awards in March can be found in the box above, right. Also available are data from 2004-2007.