When your stock triples, follow CEO Ingram’s move. Buy more.
In this week’s report we present ten significant buys and six significant sells. As a steady volume of insider trading becomes the norm, this week of third quarter trading shows 7 C-level insiders making large moves to capitalize on their companies share price.
In this report, we examine stocks that C-level officers and directors bought and sold throughout the week ending August 17, 2018.
Insiders sell stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. As a standard, we only look at material amounts of money, $100 thousand or more, as anything less could just be window dressing.
The bar is different with selling, because the natural state of management is to be sellers. This is because most companies provide significant amounts of management compensation packages as stock. Therefore, with selling, we analyze for unusual patterns, such as insiders selling 25 percent or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52 week lows.
Another red flag are large planned sale programs that start without warning. We generally ignore 10 percent shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and not the SMART money we are trying to go to school on. We also exempt IPOs and secondaries for a variety of reasons from not being available to the public or more nefarious reasons like trying to provide support for additional fund raising.
Although this info is available for free from the SEC’s Website , Edgar, we subscribe to the Washington Service as they provide a way to manage and make sense of the vast realms of data. Charts display one month of data from the date of our analysis at one day intervals. Credit for charts goes to yahoo.com
To learn more about our strategy, visit our website at The Insiders Fund. We welcome your comments on our analysis.
NOTE: We may own positions, long or short, in any of these names and are under no obligation to disclose that.
Significant Insider Buys
SARPETA THERAPEUTICS, INC. (SRPT)
The Inside Trade: President & CEO, Douglas Ingram, purchased 16,000 shares at an average price of $125.26 on Wednesday, August 15th. This buy had a market value of $2 million and increased his ownership by 4.2%.
The President & CEO has made two previous insider buys. He made one each in July and November for the same $2 million market value. These become noteworthy though when you look at the purchase price as the share prices have nearly tripled since previous buys.
In July of last year, Ingram purchased his $2 million at a price of $42.50. Just three months later, in November, he purchased that value again at $52.44. With a thirteen month increase of $82.76, and a nine month increase of $72.82 in his purchase price, the President and CEO may be on to something.
About SRPT: Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics, gene therapy, and other genetic medicine approaches for the treatment of rare neuromuscular diseases.
CANNAE HOLDINGS, INC. (CNNE)
The Inside Trade: Director, Richard Massey, purchased 39,000 shares at an average price of $18.70 on Wednesday, August 15th. This buy had a market value of $729.2 thousand and increased his holdings by 45.7%.
The company’s share price opened last week by dropping to $18.15 on Monday when their second quarter results became public. This was short lived though; the price bounced back and steadily rose the rest of the week to close Friday at $19.37, a $1.22 increase in four days.
Their second quarter results were highlighted by the growth of Ceridan CHCM Holdings (CDAY), a company in which Cannae owns 27%. Ceridian’s revenue was up 35.5% year-over-year and their share price closed last week at $34.75. That is a nice jump from their IPO price of $22.00 in April of this year.
About CNNE: Cannae Holdings, Inc. operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, manages and operates a group of companies and investments. Cannae Holdings serves investors in the State of Nevada.
KOPPERS HOLDINGS INC. (KOP)
The Inside Trade: Two insiders, the VP of Utility and Industrial, and a Director purchased a combined 30,000 shares at an average price of $35.62. These trades had a market value of $1.06 million and took place on Tuesday, August 14th.
The VP of Utility and Industrial, Michael Johnson, purchased 25,000 shares which increased his ownership by 116.1%. Director Albert Neupaver, purchased 5,000 shares and increased his ownership by 12.4%.
Their second quarter earnings were released on August 8th, and their share price turned and dropped $2.95 on the 9th. As their earnings report had both good and bad, their share price has risen just to fall slightly since.
About KOP: Koppers Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC).
DOVA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (DOVA)
The Inside Trade: President & CEO Alex Sapir purchased 21,700 shares at an average price of $22.83 on Tuesday, August 14th. This buy had a market value of $495.1 thousand and increased his ownership by 46.3%.
Since August 8th, the share price has been down, then up, every other day by nearly $2. Their second quarter report was released on the 9th with promising news. Alex Sapir opened their earnings call with the following statement. “In the second quarter, we achieved our most significant milestone in Dova’s corporate history.” One of their pharmaceutical drugs was approved and launched in the United States and also has an 80% acceptance rate of payer approval. DOVA CEO & President waited three days to make his nearly half a million dollar buy. The share price closed the week at $23.44, which gave him a net of $0.61 per share or $13.2 thousand.
About DOVA: Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing drug candidates for thrombocytopenia disease.
SYNCHRONOSS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (SNCR)
The Inside Trade: Director William Cadogan purchased 56,348 shares with six separate trades over a three day period. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.71 between Tuesday August 14th and Thursday August 16th. This buy had a market value of $291.2 thousand and increased his ownership by 22.5%.
SNCR released their second quarter results on August 8th and watched their share price jump $0.89 the following day to close at $5.04. Their quarterly report was highlighted with the competition of their financial restatement process, meeting their SEC Reporting obligations and announcing a new CFO, David Clark. The reinstatement process was as a result of becoming delinquent in their fillings at the beginning of the year. As a result, their share price continued to rise and closed the week out at $6.08. This rise led to an instant net of $0.37 per share or $21.8 thousand for the Director.
About SNCR: Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. provides cloud, digital, messaging, and Internet of things platforms, products, and solutions worldwide.
PLATFORM SPECIALTY PRODUCTS CORPORATION (PAH)
The Inside Trade: Three insiders at Platform Specialty Products, two Directors and the EVP & General Counsel, purchased 330,833 shares at an average price of $12.04 on Monday, August 13th and Wednesday ,August 15th. These buys had a combined market value of $3.98 million.
Martin Franklin, a Director, continued his buying steak with an additional 260,000 shares last week.
Ian Ashken, a Director, purchased 50,000 shares increasing his ownership by 7%.
John Capps, the EVP & General Counsel, purchased 20,833 shares to increase his ownership by 833.3%.
PAH has been very active on the buy side this month. Through direct and indirect (disclaimed) beneficial ownership, the insider purchases have totaled $9.34 million since August 6th.
About PAH: Platform Specialty Products Corporation produces and sells specialty chemical products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Performance Solutions and Agricultural Solutions.
NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP INC. (NEWM)
The Inside Trade: CEO Michael Reed purchased 32,000 shares at an average price of $15.74 on Monday, August 13th. This buy had a market value of $503.6 thousand and increased his ownership by 11.8%.
The CEO made his buy just two days before New Media Investment announced their acquisition of Rugged Events Holding, LLC, for $10.4 million. Rugged Events received their big break when they appeared on Shark Tank and received $1.75 million from Marc Cuban.
About NEWM: New Media Investment Group Inc. invests in, owns, and operates local media assets in the United States.
GRANITE CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED (GVA)
The Inside Trade: Director Claes Bjork purchased 6,500 shares at an average price of $44.25 on Tuesday, August 14th. This buy had a market value of $287.6 thousand and increased his ownership by 12.3%.
Granite’s share price dropped $6.81 on August 8th when their second quarter earnings were released. This trend continued down until reaching $42.06, a price their shares haven’t traded at since May of 2016.
About GVA: Granite Construction Incorporated operates as a heavy civil contractor and a construction materials producer in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Construction, Large Project Construction, and Construction Materials.
OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (OXY)
The Inside Trade: Director William Klesse purchased 5,000 shares at an average price of $78.55 on Monday, August 13th. This buy had a market value of $392.7 thousand and increased his ownership by 6.9%.
When Occidental Petroleum released their second quarter earnings on August 8th their price dropped $3.41 per share to $77.79, a price that hadn’t been seen since May of this year but rose to close Friday at the same price the Director bought on Monday.
About OXY: Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing.
EVOFEM BIOSCIENCES, INC. (EVFM)
The Inside Trade: Chairman of the Board, Thomas Lynch, purchased 100,000 shares at an average price of $2.26 between Tuesday, August 14th and Wednesday, August 15th. These buys had a market value of $225,850 and increased his ownership by 133.3%.
About EVFM: Evofem Biosciences, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage specialty biopharmaceutical company. The Company focuses on women’s medical needs through development and commercialization of women’s healthcare products.
Significant Insider Sells
ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC. (ALGN)
The Inside Trade: Three insiders, the CEO, the SVP of Global HR and the SVP of R&D, sold a combined 34,170 shares at an average price of $367.01. These sells held a market value of nearly $12.55 million and took place between August 14th and August 15th.
The CEO, Joseph Hogan, placed his 25,000 share sell order on Tuesday, August 14th, and decreased his ownership by 18.9%.
The SVP of Global HR, Stuart Hockridge sold his 2,753 shares on August 15th, and decreased his ownership by 84.3%.
The SVP of R&D placed his 6,417 share sell order on Tuesday, August 14th, and decreased his ownership by 28.5%.
About ALGN: Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a system of clear aligner therapy, intraoral scanners, and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) digital services.
CENTURYLINK, INC. (CTL)
The Inside Trade: Director Glen Post sold 150,000 shares at an average price of $22.00 on Monday, August 13th. This sale held a market value of $3.3 million and decreased his ownership by 8.7%.
About CTL: CenturyLink, Inc. provides various communications services to residential, business, wholesale, and governmental customers primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Business and Consumer.
DELTA AIR LINES, INC. (DAL)
The Inside Trade: CEO & Director Bastian sold 35,000 shares at an average price of $55.00 on Wednesday, August 15th. This sell held a market value of $1.92 million and decreased his ownership by 11.6%.
About DAL: Delta Air Lines, Inc. provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery.
WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (WFC)
The Inside Trade: Two Senior Executive VP’s of Wells Fargo, Avid Modjtabai and Hope Hardison, sold a combined 125,000 shares at an average price of $58.36. These sells had a market value of $7.32 million and took place on August 13th and 17th.
The Senior Executive VP of Consumer Lending, Avid Modjtabai, placed her one-thousand share sell order on Friday, August 17th, and decreased her ownership by 20.2%.
The Senior Executive VP of Human Resources, Hope Hardison, placed her sell order on Monday, August 13th, and decreased her ownership by 17.2%.
About WFC: Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides retail, commercial, and corporate banking services to individuals, businesses, and institutions.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT, INC. (WWE)
The Inside Trade: The President of WWE Studios, Michael Luisi, sold 12,461 shares at an average price of $79.01 on Thursday, August 16th. This sell had a market value $948.5 thousand and reduced his holdings by 15.3%
About WWE: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., an integrated media and entertainment company, engages in the sports entertainment business in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL INC. (RHI)
The Inside Trade: Executive VP Robert Glass sold 40,000 shares at an average price of $77.50 on Wednesday, August 15th. This sell had a market value of $3.1 million and reduced his ownership by 12.8%.
About RHI: Robert Half International Inc. provides staffing and risk consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through three segments: Temporary and Consultant Staffing, Permanent Placement Staffing, and Risk Consulting and Internal Audit Services.