In this report we examine stocks that C-level officers and directors bought and sold ending the week of September 22nd, 2017. Insiders sell stock for a variety of reasons but they generally buy for just one, to make money. We only look at material amounts of money, $100k or more, as anything less could be window dressing. The bar is different on selling as the natural state of management is to be sellers. Most companies provide significant amounts of their compensation packages as stock. Therefore we analyze selling for unusual patterns; such as insider selling 25% or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52 wk. lows. Another red flag is large planned sale programs that just start out of the blue. We generally ignore 10% shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and not the SMART money we are trying to go to school on. Although this info is available for free from the SEC’s Web site , Edgar, we subscribe to the Washington Service as they provide a way to manage and make sense from the realms of data. To learn more about our strategy visit our website at The Insiders Fund. We welcome your comments on our analysis. We may own positions long or short in any of these names and are under no obligation to disclose that-So do your own research.
Buying
Tall Grass Energy Partners, LP TEP CEO David Dehaemers bought another $6.2 million worth of this natural gas pipeline MLP. We own this 9% yielding MLP.
Allergan AGN 3 insiders bought $2.9 million of the Botox manufacturer. AGN has been a weak performer all year and last week’s news about a potential future Botox competitor caused a sell-off. Insiders scooped up shares including CEO Saunders $75k purchase.
CenturyLink CTL beleaguered telecom company finally saw some insider buying as the stock tagged lifetime lows. 8 insiders bought $2.9 million worth of stock between $14.17-$14.58.
Prospect Capital PSEC Chairman and CEO Barry bought $28.9 million worth of stock at an average price of $6.78. I wondered last week where Barry gets all this money to buy his company’s stock because I see no sales and the stock has been a horrid performer.
Financial Engines FNGN two insiders bought this robo-advisor software company to the tune of $944.8 k at prices of $28.54 and $28.71. The company, founded by Nobel prize-winning William Share (Sharpe ratio), is near a 4 year low.
Selling
Performance Food Group PFGC The stock has had a good run. Maybe that’s all there is behind Wellspring Capital Parnter’s sale of 10 million shares. Maybe again they’ve seen it as good as it is going to get?
Best Buy BBY Best Buy has survived the Amazon onslaught. Somehow against all odds, the stock is near a lifetime high. Is the bell finally tolling for BBY? Insiders are selling stock at a pace not seen in years.
Live Nation Entertainment LYV Insiders have been unloading this music venue operator at a record pace. It doesn’t seem to faze shareholders.
Cognizant CTSH Three insider sold $35.2 million in a combination of stock and options. They might have good timing as this larger Indian IT outsourcing company may be looking at more restrictive work visas from the Buy American Trump administration.
BeiGene BGNE Short a biotech at your own risk. Insiders are selling but Celgene is a significant shareholder and the stock has done well for a lagging sector like biotech.
Empire State Realty Trust ESRT Chairman Malkin sold almost all his own stake according to recent filings. This is significant activity for a stock that rarely has any insider activity.
CRISPR Therapeutics CRSP When everyone is convinced that CRISPR gene splicing technology is the biggest thing to happen in the life sciences business, it might just be time to sell. Maybe that’s why Celgene just sold 1.1 million plus shares.
GrubHub GRUB 6 insiders sold $3.2million of this restaurant food delivery company near lifetime highs. This is not an unusuall selling pattern as insivers have been unloading for quite some time.
Iqvia Holdings IQV 5 insiders unloaded $1.0 Billion of stock in a 10 million share secondary. Proceeds went to selling shareholders and Not the Company.
Smart Global Holdings SGH Five selling stockholders unload $104.4 million of stock in a secondary offering. Again none of the money going to the Company and sellers reducing their holdings from 21% to 48.8%.
Horton Works HDP 5 insiders sold $11.8 million of stock keeping up their torrid pace.
Amerisouce Bergen Corp ABC 5 insiders sold a combination of stock and options to the tune of $5.9 million.
Schwab SCHW Discount pioneer Schwab insiders can’t seem to sell their stock fast enough. Last week 4 insiders sold $33.6 million worth. Long live the bull!