CENT Insider Trading

Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT) operates in the Consumer Defensive sector, specifically the Packaged Foods industry, with a market capitalization near $2.58B, listed on NASDAQ, employing roughly 6,000 people, carrying a beta of 0.59 to the broader market. Central Garden & Pet Company (“Central”) is a market leader in the U. Led by Nicholas Lahanas, public since 1992-07-15.

In the last 12 months, Central Garden & Pet Company insiders made 0 buy transactions and 7 sale transactions.

DateNameTypeSharesPriceValue
Sep 28, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EJ-Other1,000$0.00$0
Aug 17, 2026PENNINGTON BROOKS IIIG-Gift5,800$0.00$0
Aug 17, 2026BROWN WILLIAM ES-Sale3,900$39.00$152.1K
Aug 12, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EM-Exempt127,942$31.18$4.0M
Aug 12, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EF-InKind116,232$38.28$4.4M
Aug 12, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EM-Exempt127,942$31.18$4.0M
Aug 12, 2026Walker John D. IIIS-Sale5,000$38.50$192.5K
Aug 12, 2026Walker John D. IIIS-Sale5,000$39.00$195.0K
Aug 11, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EJ-Other8,531$0.00$0
Aug 11, 2026BROWN WILLIAM EJ-Other11,586$0.00$0

CENT Insider Activity by Quarter

Reported Form 4 and Form 5 lines under CENT's own SEC company ID, by transaction date, back to Q4 2024. Purchases and sales are code P / S (open market or private) in the company's shares; other lines are purchases and sales of other securities (options, warrants, preferred), awards, exercises, tax withholding, gifts and other acquisitions and dispositions. Later filings and amendments can change the current quarter. Earlier quarters are not shown: the filings read reach back to Mar 9, 2021, and a quarter counts only when every filing for it was read.

QuarterPurchasesBoughtSalesSoldOther Lines
Q4 2026 (so far)0N/A0N/A0
Q3 20260N/A3$539.6K6
Q2 20260N/A0N/A8
Q1 20260N/A3$408.8K52
Q4 20250N/A1$309.1K0
Q3 20250N/A6$3.7M6
Q2 20250N/A5$3.8M2
Q1 20250N/A4$635.5K47
Q4 20240N/A0N/A3

CENT Institutional Ownership (13F)

As of Jun 30, 2026 (Q2 2026), 185 institutions reported holding 9,275,343 CENT shares, valued at $415.7M as reported, 15.1% of its market cap (market cap of Jun 26, 2026). The market cap on file for CENT is about the same figure as for CENTA, another security of the same company (the same issuer number and name on file), so that percentage is likely over the company's whole market cap. That is +9 institutions from the quarter before. Among managers whose reports for both quarters are comparable, 25 opened a position, 15 closed one, 72 added and 47 trimmed.

Top Holders, Q2 2026

ManagerSharesValueChange
BlackRock, Inc.1,692,305$75.0M+86,552
Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC735,398$32.6M-68,197
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS LP650,817$28.9M+941
VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC536,555$23.8M-7,415
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC475,565$21.1M+2,029
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC453,874$20.1M-1,878
AMERICAN CENTURY COMPANIES INC413,959$18.4M+68,138
STATE STREET CORP382,432$17.0M-3,546
RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIES LLC212,887$9.4M+31,100
Nuveen, LLC193,844$8.6M+174,104

By Quarter

QuarterInstitutionsSharesValue
Q2 20261859,275,343$415.7M
Q1 20261768,942,949$334.3M
Q4 20251619,159,507$294.3M
Q3 20251649,403,065$311.9M
Q2 20251799,916,999$350.1M
Q1 202517610,656,382$390.4M
Q4 202414312,589,654$487.9M
Q3 202415212,564,477$458.2M
Q2 202413213,018,599$501.2M

From the SEC's Form 13F data sets: investment managers with $100 million or more in Section 13(f) securities report their holdings each quarter, up to 45 days after it ends; a restated filing replaces the original, and values are as the managers reported them (a position whose price runs about 1,000 times below other managers', from a manager whose positions mostly do, is read as reported in thousands of dollars). The same shares can be reported by more than one manager, so totals can count some twice.

ETFs Holding CENT

FundWeight of CENTShares (as reported)Value (as reported)Source updated
IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF0.02%480,987$19.3MOct 8, 2026
AVUV Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF0.06%422,547$17.0MOct 8, 2026
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF0.01%270,635$10.9MOct 8, 2026
VTI Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF0.00%239,885$10.3MOct 7, 2026
VXF Vanguard Extended Market ETF0.01%231,475$9.9MOct 7, 2026
DFSV U.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio ETF Class Shares0.03%201,073$8.0MOct 8, 2026
VB Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap ETF0.00%175,918$7.6MOct 7, 2026
DFAT Dimensional - US Targeted Value ETF0.02%145,302$5.8MOct 8, 2026
VBR Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF0.01%113,357$4.9MOct 7, 2026
VDC Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF0.04%86,614$3.7MOct 7, 2026
SPSM State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 600 Small Cap ETF0.02%71,544$2.9MOct 8, 2026
IJS iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF0.04%66,882$2.7MOct 8, 2026
DFAC Dimensional - US Core Equity 2 ETF0.00%55,510$2.2MOct 8, 2026
VTWO Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF0.01%48,128$2.1MOct 7, 2026
RWJ Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 Revenue ETF0.10%49,428$2.0MOct 8, 2026

From each fund's latest holdings file on record that shows CENT's listed security itself. A file counts when its line count is consistent with the fund's reported holdings count (at most twice it plus 10, or at most 1,000 lines for a reported count of exactly 10, which the data source gives many funds as a cap), read with that file or inherited from the fund's last classified file (within 20% of its line count, read within 60 days). Funds whose line for the company could not be confirmed as CENT's listed security, or that hold it through underlying funds (look-through), are not listed. Only long positions count: a fund is left out when any of its lines for CENT reports a negative weight, share count or value, or none of them above zero (a short position, or figures that disagree). Shares, value and weight are as reported in each fund's file, dated by the data source's last update of that file (not the date of the positions); the weight is CENT's share of that fund.

How to Read CENT Insider Activity

Net insider sentiment skews to the sell side over the trailing twelve months: 7 sales versus 0 buys. Insider sales carry less informational weight than buys because they are often driven by liquidity, tax planning, or pre-scheduled Rule 10b5-1 trading plans rather than negative information. The transaction type alone does not say whether a sale was made on the open market or privately, or under a 10b5-1 plan; the filing's plan checkbox and footnotes do. The transaction table above includes the filer's reporting name, transaction type, share count, per-share price, and total dollar value where computable. For options traders, insider activity is one input to event-driven sizing alongside earnings calendar, analyst-rating cluster moves, and the implied-vol surface. Form 4 filings (the dominant Section 16 reporting form) must be submitted within two business days of the transaction; clusters of buys across multiple insiders within a short window are the strongest informational pattern. SEC EDGAR carries the underlying source filings for verification and additional historical depth.

Learn how insider trading is reported and how to read the data →

Frequently asked CENT insider trading questions

How active are CENT insiders right now?
Over the trailing twelve months, Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT) insiders made 0 buy transactions and 7 sale transactions. Net insider sentiment over the trailing twelve months tilts to the sell side (7 sales vs 0 buys). The transaction list above shows the most recent filings; each entry includes the insider's name, transaction type, share count, and per-share price.
What counts as an insider transaction?
Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act requires officers, directors, and 10% beneficial-owner shareholders to disclose changes in their holdings via Form 3 (initial statement), Form 4 (subsequent transactions, filed within two business days), and Form 5 (annual catch-up). Insider transactions cover open-market purchases and sales, exercise of stock options, gifts, and grants. The "transaction type" field on each row distinguishes these subcategories.
Are CENT insider buys a bullish signal?
Insider purchases (Type P, made on the open market or privately; the code covers both) carry more informational weight than insider sales: an insider must commit personal capital, and the SEC scrutinizes purchases under Rule 10b5-1 for material non-public information. Sales, by contrast, are often driven by liquidity, tax planning, or pre-scheduled 10b5-1 trading plans rather than negative information. Cluster buying (multiple insiders buying within a short window) is a stronger signal than isolated buys.
How do CENT insider transactions affect options pricing?
Insider transaction data does not directly drive implied volatility, but Form 4 disclosures can move single-name IV if the size or timing is unusual (e.g. a large CEO buy ahead of an earnings window). Options markets price the marginal informational content; routine transactions under pre-scheduled plans are typically ignored. For event-driven options sizing, pair the insider transaction history with the upcoming earnings calendar.