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The efficient market hypothesis assumes that all current information is reflected in the current price of a security. According to the EMH, stocks always trade at their fair value on exchanges, making it impossible for investors to purchase undervalued stocks or sell stocks for inflated prices. When we look at insider buying and selling, we are examining and theorizing the possible motives of the people that know the company the best. What information do they possess that is not already priced into the stock?
Descriptions
Name: Stankey John T
Position: CEO
Shares Bought: 34,614
Average Price Paid: $28.81
Company: AT&T Inc
Description: AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company, Delaware-registered but it is headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world’s largest telecommunications company and the second largest[8] provider of mobile telephone services. As of 2020, AT&T was ranked 9th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, with revenues of $181 billion.[9]
John Stankey, chief executive officer of AT&T Inc. John Stankey and AT&T’s board of directors, considered a variety of opportunities for the company and that the strategic separation of its media and communications operations reflects their confidence in the underlying market momentum in both businesses. In AT&T Communications, over the last three quarters, the company has posted the best wireless postpaid net adds in more than a decade. And the company recorded its best fiber gross adds in the first quarter of 2021, with about 70% of those new to AT&T. On a net basis, fiber subscribers were up more than 1 million, or 25%, versus the first quarter of 2020, with penetration of more than 35% across the company’s fiber base as of the first quarter of 2021. AT&T shareholders will own 71% of the shares in the new media company. It will have global direct-to-consumer (DTC) distribution capabilities and a robust content library, and the ability to create compelling new content, both of which are imperative to compete in DTC on a global basis successfully. AT&T does not expect changes to the dividend before the close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery transaction, which is likely to occur in mid-2022. Stankey reiterated that after close and subject to AT&T Board approval, AT&T is expected to continue to be among the top 5% of dividend-paying stocks with an anticipated annual dividend level of $8 billion to $9 billion per year. What he neglected to say is that they are slashing the dividend nearly in half from $15 billion to an estimated $8 billion. Also, at the close, existing shareholders of AT&T will continue to hold their shares in AT&T and hold 71% of shares of the new media company. The expected value of those shares based on the capitalization as of May 14, 2021, is in the $7-$8 range per share of AT&T stock, or the equivalent of 4+ years of AT&T’s current annual dividend tax-free.
Analysis: How any board would pick Stankey to lead AT&T should immediately disqualify them from any future corporate governance roles. AT&T was once the most recognized brand in the world with vast international powers. Foreign government feared it as the company was synonymous with American power as the telephone lines were bugged, they knew it and still needed AT&T. No more, the company is a shadow of itself. What the U.S. Government couldn’t do in its landmark anti-trust case, the management of AT&T has succeeded in turning the company into a follower, not an innovator, and a debt-laden hulk floundering directionless. On the other hand Director, Luczo has iron balls and conviction while he ran Seagate. I’d think twice if the board appointed him to CEO but I wouldn’t touch it with Stankey. Stankey is Stinky. We are not buyers of this name at anywhere near this price. AT&T’s still enormous debt load provides a near-fatal burden in a world where technology innovators have to invest huge sums to stay current. We don’t have an opinion on the merits of owning T.
Name: Desroches Pascal
Position: CFO
Shares Bought: 19,976
Average Price Paid: $29.52
Company: AT&T Inc
Description:
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)Traders will no doubt be encouraged by the recent purchase of shares by Pascal Desroches, Senior EVP & CFO until they dig deeper and realize he is the newly appointed CFO of the company and this kind of buy is rather perfunctory even if it increased his holding size by 12%. AT&T insiders own 0.09% of the company, currently worth about US$200m based on the recent share price. It’s really a disgrace that insiders own so little of an American iconic institution. The Company has basically been hijacked by management.
Name: Luczo Stephen J
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 100,000
Average Price Paid: $29.80
Company: AT&T Inc
Description:
Stephen Luczo, Director of the company, Stephen Luczo has served as Seagate Technology’s Chairman of the Board since 2002. From October 2017 to October 2018, he also served as Executive Chairman. Before that, he served two tenures as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Director Stephen Luczo bought $3.7 mil of AT&T(T) at $37.60 on Feb.4. Luczo’s — who is also Chairman of the Board at Seagate Technology(STX) — first open market purchase of AT&T shares since becoming a director in November. Early in 2009, STX stock was rising from an all-time low of $2.98 hit during the depths of the financial crisis. In Jan. and Feb. of that year, Luczo bought one million shares of Seagate at an average price of $4.00. That stake is worth $55.29 mil. Today.
Name: Hipp Stephen W
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 45,455
Average Price Paid: $6.60
Company: Priority Technology Holdings Inc.
Description: Priority Technology Holdings is a leading provider of merchant acquiring, integrated payment software, and commercial payment solutions, offering unique product and service capabilities to its merchant network and distribution partners.
Stephen W. Hipp recently retired from Goldman Sachs & Company, where he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group from March 2004 until September 2020. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Hipp previously served as Senior Vice President of Underwriting and Portfolio Management of GE Capital’s Media and Telecommunications Finance Group from March 1999 until March 2004. He served as a Senior Associate in the leveraged lending group of Creditanstalt from 1997-1999. Mr. Hipp began his career as an auditor for Ernst & Young, LLP, in 1990, transitioning to the Restructuring and Reorganizations Advisory Group through 1997. He received a Bachelor of Economics from Emory University and completed Post-Baccalaureate coursework in Accounting from Georgia State University. Mr. Hipp has served on the Boards of private companies and a charitable organization. He maintained his license as a Certified Public Accountant from July 1992-December 1999.
Analysis: 1st quarter revenue picked up nicely but it’s very difficult comparing 1st quarter revenue when the country went into Pandemic lockdown. Otherwise, this looks like a very boring investment and we are avoiding it.
Name: Deutsch Corey
Position: Chief Business Officer
Shares Bought: 30,000
Average Price Paid: $12.31
Company: LifeMD Inc
Description: Life MD is a direct-to-patient approach to a healthcare company. They are trying to build the healthcare experience through telehealth, and provide patients a transparent, convenient, and cost-effective platform to access the quality medical care, prescription medications, and OTC products they need. LifeMD was developed to enable a better end-to-end telemedicine experience by connecting consultations, prescriptions, and prescription delivery for our brands’ patients.
Corey Deutsch, Chief Business Officer of LifeMD Inc. Corey Deutsch, recently bought US$199k worth of stock, paying US$8.85 for each share. That’s a very decent purchase to our minds, and it grew their holding by a solid 46%. According to our records, the recent purchase by Corey Deutsch was the biggest purchase of LifeMD shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$12.13), we still think insider buying is a positive.
1st quarter revenue grew dramatically to $18.2 million, up over 373% from admittedly a small base. Total patients and customers served nationwide surpassed 320,000. The company raised its revenue guidance to $90 million to $100 million from its previous guidance of $85 to $95 million. The current guidance represents revenue growth of 141% to 168% versus the prior year. The company’s LegalSimpli subsidiary, a PDF software-as-a-service (SaaS), contributed net sales of $4.9 million, up 264% from the year-ago quarter. This growth comes at a cost.
- Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP term, totaled a loss of $8.9 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $556,000 in the same year-ago quarter (see definition of this non-GAAP term and reconciliation to GAAP, below).
- Cash totaled $13.4 million at March 31, 2021, as compared to $9.2 million at December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily due to a private placement with net proceeds of $13.5 million completed in February 2021.
The pandemic has proven that telemedicine or remote medicine is a technology whose time has finally arrived. Healthcare is the largest sector of the economy and this field will be intensely competitive. There has to be a case for LifeMD to exist in a world with Teledoc and major VC interest and established health care vendors moving aggressively into this space. Do they have a defendable moat? or any moat at all?
BTIG has a target of $40 on LFMD. I find this wildly optimistic as their projections show revenue increasing to $113.69 million in 2022 with EBITA losses decreasing from (12.99) to (11.73). This is the kind of assumption that is predicated on the market being patient enough to finance and allow losses indefinitely. They may be able to raise some capital from the sale of their legal business but there will be a reduction in revenues. LFMD has $13.28 million in cash. They burned $9.1 million in operating the business in the 1st quarter. That is not a comfortable place to be in.
DO NOT BUY.
Name: Wiedenfels Gunnar
Position: CFO
Shares Bought: 25,000
Average Price Paid: $29.09
Company: Discovery Inc.
Description: Discovery, Inc. is an American multinational mass media factual television company based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company primarily operates a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and TLC. Wikipedia
If you want to spend your weekend trying to understand all the drama behind the merger of AT&T media assets like Time Warner and CNN with Discovery Inc and John Mallone’s sophisticated tax avoidance schemes, you should get a life. All you have to do is look at the chart above at the precipitous 50% drop in price as the world of the deal was leaked to know that something was rotten in Denmark. To say that Wall Street gave a Bronx cheer to this combination is an understatement. But they just might be getting it wrong too,
John Mallone, who by everyone’s standard is as smart as they get, said he was delighted to support the deal. John Malone said: “After over 30 years of being involved in developing Discovery as a global information and entertainment company, the opportunity to combine with WarnerMedia to create the ultimate consumer offering in its space is compelling. The industrial logic of this investment grade, synergistic combination, under the leadership of David Zaslav, is appealing. I am delighted to fully support this transaction, without asking for or receiving a premium for my high vote shares. I believe we are creating real value for shareholders and a legacy investment for my grandkids.”
Now step in the Chief Financial Officer, Wiedenfels who buys $727,250 worth of the stock at $29.09. This is the kind of insider conviction that we want to see, considering that he has just paid $48.5 for 40,000 shares on 3-1-21. Gunnar Wiedenfels leads Discovery’s global financial functions and strategies, including all accounting, treasury, budgeting, tax, and investor relations activities. Additionally, he serves on the executive team, contributing to the company’s overall strategic direction and operations. Since joining Discovery in 2017, Wiedenfels has helped transform and modernize the company into the global leader in real-life entertainment. He played a key leadership role in the company’s 2018 acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive, and the creation of the new Discovery from the successful integration of the two companies under a best-in-class, blended leadership team.
While it might be too late to turn AT&T around, I think this merger could be very interesting. Investors and speculators in DISC stock were clearly bidding the stock up in expectation Mallone would do a deal to sell Discovery, not combine it. The stock dropped 50% as this disappointment got out. I’m a buyer on this dip. I don’t know if this becomes a worldwide success and becomes the platform Malone is envisioning but there is almost certainly a bounce here. We are a buyer!
Listen to one of the largest shareholders in this excellent interview above with John Mallone. You’ll need a CNBC Pro account or you can just take it from me. Mallone believes in it and the cost savings they can get it out. Even though the company will have approximately $55 billion in debt, it will have plenty of free cash flow to invest in new content. Expect a lot more to watch- join the streaming wars. This is Malone’s swan song, his life’s work culmination.
Name: Springer Timothy A
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 2,773,479
Average Price Paid: $3.19
Company: Selecta Biosciences Inc
Description: Selecta Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company with an unrelenting commitment to overcoming immunogenicity with our pioneering ImmTOR™ immune tolerance platform.
Analysis: Timothy Springer, Director of Selecta Biosciences Inc. In fact, the recent purchase by Timothy Springer was the biggest purchase of Selecta Biosciences shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today’s share price, the average buy price was around US$2.21. It is certainly positive to see that insiders have invested their own money in the company.
I have mixed feelings about Selecta Bioscience. There was a front cover article about them in Scientific America on their potential breakthrough technology that would allow an entire class of new drugs, biologics, to overcome the body’s auto rejection response. This would be huge. There is a significant part of the patient population whose body rejects drugs like Humira, the largest revenue-producing drug in the world. The first proof of concept was going to their drug, SEL-212 to combat an established market leader for the treatment of gout. It failed and the stock plummeted. Now they have pivoted and are using their ImmTOR platform in gene therapy trials along with Sarepta, Ask Bio, and in their own trials. I would avoid Selecta Biosciences for now.
Name: Dickerson Mary
Position: Exec. Vice President
Shares Bought: 8,975
Average Price Paid: $22.91
Company: Radian Group Inc
Description:
Radian Group Inc. is a mortgage insurance company with a suite of mortgage, risk, real estate, and title services. The company is headquartered at Centre Square in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
Ms. Dickerson is a new hire and I wouldn’t put any credence to this buy as often new senior employees will purchase stock in their new employer. It’s almost an unspoken requirement in public companies.
Name: Carrig John A
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 50,000
Average Price Paid: $22.28
Company: Forum Energy Technologies Inc
Description: Forum Energy Technologies is an international oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production, and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. Wikipedia
Mr. Carrig was appointed as a director of Forum in July 2011 and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee. He retired from ConocoPhillips in March 2011, having most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer since 2008. Needless to say, Carrig knows what he is doing in this industry. FET completed a reverse 1 for 20 split on October 30th last year. We are not keen on the long-term future in this industry and would prefer to invest in the two majors, Exxon and Chevron before speculating on more obscure names.
Name: Whitmore Justin
Position: Chief Strategy Office
Shares Bought: 9,385
Average Price Paid: $36.88
Company: Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc.
Description: On July 9, 2018, Keurig Green Mountain acquired Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and became Keurig Dr Pepper.
Whitmore Justin joined the company in February this year as Chief Strategy Officer of Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. Whitmore comes from Tyson Foods, where he played a vital role in the company’s global growth, value creation, and venture capital strategy. Most recently as Executive Vice President Alternative Protein and previously Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy & Sustainability. This is his second purchase since joining the firm. I wouldn’t put any significance to this considering Derek Hopkins, the President just unloaded 334,000 shares.
Name: Westerman Melissa
Position: Corporate Controller
Shares Bought: 11,400
Average Price Paid: $17.47
Company: PureCycle Technologies Inc.
Description: PureCycle Technologies is a SPAC combination with Purcycle, a company that has licensed proprietary technology from Proctor & Their ground-breaking patented recycling process, developed by Procter & Gamble, separates color, odor and contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene. PureCycle TechnologiesSM recycling service converts waste plastic into virgin-like plastic fully closing the loop on the reuse of recycled plastics while making recycled polypropylene more accessible at scale to companies desiring to use a sustainable, recycled resin.
The strength of the PureCycle team continues to expand with the recent strategic hires of Missy Westerman, corporate controller. Purecycle, an Innventure company, uses proprietary technology licensed from Procter & Gamble to recycle waste polypropylene (PP) into virgin-like recycled PP for myriad applications.
The company has a complicated capital structure. There is a recent short-sellers report from Hindenburg which adds to the complexity of understanding this venture. We generally dismiss stock purchases by a new employee as less important than one by veteran employees. For now we are on the sidelines with this name.
Name: Clayton Walter Joseph
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 5,000
Average Price Paid: $57.39
Company: Apollo Global Management Inc.
Description: Apollo Global Management, Inc. is a global alternative investment management firm. It was founded in 1990 by Leon Black, Josh Harris, and Marc Rowan. Apollo is headquartered in New York City, with offices across North America, Europe, and Asia. The company’s stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol ‘APO.’The firm specializes in investing across credit, private equity, and tangible assets. Apollo Global Management reported $414B of assets under management at the end of June 2020.
APO has a dividend of 3.6%. The stock will probably work but we have better places to put our money.
Name: Lefenfeld Michael
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 4,650
Average Price Paid: $18.53
Company: Immunome Inc.
Description: Immunome was founded to advance the discovery and development of antibody-based drugs. Their proprietary antibody Discovery Engine identifies novel therapeutic antibodies, and their antigen targets, by leveraging the most highly-educated components of the B cells from patients who have learned to fight off their disease.
This provides a better understanding of how the body itself recognizes and overcomes disease. In this way, the Immune Discovery Engine is able to efficiently identify the antibodies with the highest potential to address cancer and infectious diseases. This approach also allows Immunome to circumvent the weaknesses, complications and inefficiencies associated with conventional approaches.
Michael Lefenfeld is the president and chief executive officer of Cyanco, the leading global supplier of reagents and technologies which enable commercial mining of precious metals – Gold and Silver. Lefenfeld developed and commercialized several new technologies, launching and selling three companies by age 30. Lefenfeld holds more than 50 patents in medical devices, controlled release, electronics, chemical reactivity, and information technology. After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at WashU in 2002, Lefenfeld, a resident of New York City, earned a master’s in chemistry at Columbia University and an executive education certificate at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Name: Rapp Michael
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 53,498
Average Price Paid: $18.38
Company: Immunome Inc.
Description:
Michael Rapp Chairman of the Board. Michael Rapp has more than 30 years of experience in the financial industry and is the Managing Member of Broadband Capital Investments, LLC, a middle-market private equity sponsor focused on high-growth companies. Mr. Rapp has been instrumental in providing early financing and for advising exciting growth companies, including; Examworks (acquired by Leonard Green), Montrose Environmental (the leading US environmental services company), Vroom.com (Nasdaq: VRM), the top internet used car company, Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ZYNE), a leading cannabinoid biotech company, and Hydrofarm (a leading hydroponics distribution company). Mr. Rapp received his BA degree in psychology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 1989.
Name: Wagenheim Philip
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 13,500
Average Price Paid: $18.35
Company: Immunome Inc.
Description:
Wagenheim Philip is the Director. Mr. Wagenheim has more than 28 years of experience in the financial industry and is the Managing Partner of Broadband Capital Partners, LLC, a middle-market private equity sponsor focused on growth companies and industry consolidations. Prior to Broadband Capital Partners, he was the vice-chairman of Broadband Capital Management LLC, an investment and merchant bank he co-founded in 2000. Mr. Wagenheim has extensive experience with public and private growth equity investments, including Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ZYNE), ExamWorks (Nasdaq: EXAM), Vroom.com (Nasdaq: VRM), and Montrose Environmental Group. In connection with Zynerba’s recapitalization, Mr. Wagenheim was named President and a Director of the company, serving as a director until the company’s initial public offering in August 2015 led by Jefferies and Piper Jaffray. Mr. Wagenheim received his degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami.
Name: Sarma Purnanand D
Position: CEO
Shares Bought: 10,500
Average Price Paid: $18.41
Company: Immunome Inc.
Description:
Dr. Purnanand Sarma serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunome. Sarma brings more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of the pharmaceutical industry business across multiple R&D platforms, ranging from venture-backed biotechnology start-ups to large-cap pharmaceutical companies. He was most recently the President & CEO of Taris Biomedical, which he built over the last nine years into a leader in therapeutic urology, focused on diseases such as bladder cancer and overactive bladder. In addition to raising more than $100M in equity capital, he also sold one of Taris’ products to Allergan (NYSE: AGN) in a deal worth up to $587M. Prior to Taris, Sarma was the VP and General Manager of Worldwide Drug Delivery Technologies for Cephalon Corporation (NYSE: CEPH). Before joining Cephalon, he spent over 10 years in various capacities at Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR), including VP of Drug Development & Program Management, and built the entire greenfield operation of Nektar Therapeutics (India), serving as its first Managing Director. He started his career at SmithKline Beecham in King of Prussia, PA, after earning his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Minnesota and B. Pharm from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. Sarma also serves as an independent Board member at Vaxess Technologies Inci.
Name: Lamattina John
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 5,440
Average Price Paid: $18.57
Company: Immunome Inc.
Description:
Dr. LaMattina is an Independent Non-Executive Director at PureTech Health. And was previously President of Pfizer Global Research and Development and Senior Vice President of Pfizer, Inc. During his 30-year career at Pfizer Inc., Dr. LaMattina held positions of increasing responsibility for Pfizer Central Research, including Vice President of U.S. Discovery Operations in 1993, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Discovery Operations in 1998 and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Development in 1999.
Cluster insider buying is extremely bullish. On February 18th, IMNM doubled in price on news that Immunome announced that its discovery engine has isolated potent antibodies capable of neutralizing several SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the South African Variant (B.1.351), in pseudovirus testing. Since then the stock has steadily drifted down. This latest blitz of insider buying is likely to put a floor on the stock. IMNM is development-stage biotech with no revenues to date. IND filing for IMM-BCP-01 a treatment for Covid -19 is due 3Q21. I’m afraid this horse has come and gone from an investor’s point of view.
Name: Butler Eric L
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 10,000
Average Price Paid: $25.37
Company: NiSource Inc
Description: NiSource Inc. is one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.5 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across seven states through its local Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands. Wikipedia
Eric L. Butler has been a director of NiSource since 2017. Butler currently serves as executive vice president, chief administrative officer, and corporate secretary at Union Pacific Corporation. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1981 and a Master’s of Science in Industrial Administration in 1986, both from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Butler has been a director of the Omaha branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 2015.
This is Butler’s second purchase of NiSource and his largest. NI pays a 3.44% dividend and fits in nicely with our big thesis that regulated electric utilities will see a historic increase in revenues as EV’s start rolling out from all the major manufactures. We would add NI to our holdings.
Name: Currey Robert J
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 27,700
Average Price Paid: $9.02
Company: Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc.
Description: Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., doing business as Consolidated Communications, is an American broadband and business communications provider headquartered in Mattoon, Illinois. Wikipedia
Robert J. Currey serves as our Chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Currey has served as one of the Company’s directors and, as a director of our predecessors since 2002. served as our CEO from 2002 until December 31, 2014.
On March 17th, it was reported that Consolidated Communications is working with Bank Street to explore options, including a sale, of its Kansas City business. On July 30, 2020, Dealreporter’s Jon Berke and Matt O’Brien had previously reported that Consolidated Communications was working with banks to help it explore strategic alternatives. This is all the more curious as this 27,000 share buy is Currey’s largest to date and the first since 2017. Is a deal finally going to happen? CNSL has had stagnant revenue growth but the stock is moving higher since March.
Name: Keffer Pueo
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 63,250
Average Price Paid: $15.85
Company: Opendoor Technologies Inc
Description: Opendoor Technologies enables consumers to buy and sell homes through online transactions. Opendoor sold 4.4 times more homes than the next closest competitor, Zillow (ZG). Opendoor currently operates in 21 markets with $5 billion in run-rate revenue and has a goal of being in 100 markets in the United States for $50 billion in annual revenue. This leaves plenty of growth ahead.
Mr. Pueo Keffer serves as Managing Director at Access Technology Ventures. He served as Managing Director at Access Technology Ventures. Mr. Pueo Keffer serves as Managing Director at Access Industries. He serves as a Board Member at Opendoor and Kabam.
This is the 2nd large buy Director Keffer and it appears that these are in his name and not as part of the Access Technology ventures. Opendoor stock is trading at half of its February highs and looks like its consolidation in this range. The housing market is hot and going through the established real estate agent listing process is arcane, outdated, and adds to the expenses of buying and selling homes. This industry is ripe for disruption. Zillow is proving that but they are mostly attacking the MLS lock on the market. Opendoor is acting like a Carvana, willing to buy your home for cash outright or list is for 5% of the selling fee. I don’t see the benefit of paying an online company like OPEN 5% when Redfin will sell it for less and many local realtors can negotiate for similar discounts.
Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng on May 17th initiated coverage of Opendoor Technologies with a Neutral rating and a $17 price target. He said that the company is well-positioned to benefit from a potential transformation in how homes are bought and sold in America, however, Opendoor’s opportunity is appropriately reflected in the stock’s valuation.
Valuations are stretched all across the market but with two $1 million dollar personal purchases from a former Goldman Sachs analyst, this stock might just work. There is some part of the market that wants the convenience of a sale on their hassle-free terms. I’m waiting for the firm though that creates a true marketplace with sub 1% commissions buying and selling.
Name: Bleil Lynn Dorsey
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 28,605
Average Price Paid: $8.74
Company: Amicus Therapeutics Inc
Description: Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FOLD) is a global, patient-dedicated biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and delivering high-quality medicines for people living with rare metabolic diseases.
Lynn Dorsey Bleil is Independent Director of Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. Lynn D. Bleil has served as a member of the Board since September 2018. Ms. Bleil led the West Coast Healthcare Practice of McKinsey & Company and was a core leader of McKinsey’s worldwide Healthcare Practice before her retirement as a Senior Partner in 2013, after 25 years at the firm.
This looks like the first open market buy Bleil has made since getting on the board. Amicus collapsed in price in February when a Phase 3 trial in late-onset Pompe disease missed statistical significance on its primary endpoint.
On May 10th the Company announced that Galafold momentum continues to track ahead of internal expectations and remains on track to achieve the full year revenue guidance of $300M to $315M. Based on current operating models, the Company believes that the current cash position and expected future revenues are sufficient to fund the Company’s operations and ongoing research programs through to self-sustainability.
Name Thompson Christopher M.T.
Position: Director
Shares Bought: 10,000
Average Price Paid: $140.22
Company: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc
Description: Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is an American international technical professional services firm. The company provides technical, professional and construction services, as well as scientific and specialty consulting for a broad range of clients globally, including companies, organizations, and government agencies. Wikipedia
Christopher M. T. Thompson is an American businessperson who has been the head of 5 different companies and is on the board of Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. and Teck Metals Ltd. This is Thompson’s largest purchase to date and we would follow suit. There seems like there will be some infrastructure plan although the size of it is anyone’s guess. Jacobs is also likely to play a key role as the nation and the world starts its transition to a carbon zero goal.
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Insiders sell the stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. You’ve always heard the best information is inside information. Everyone who has any experience at all in the stock market pays close attention to what insiders are doing. After all, who knows a business better than the people running it? Officers, directors, and 10% owners are required to inform the public through a Form 4 Filing any transaction, buy, sell, exercise, or any other with 48 hours of doing so. This info is available for free from the SEC’s Web site, Edgar, although we subscribe to SECForm4 as they provide a way to manage and make sense of the vast realms of data. I’ve tried a lot of vendors and SECForm4 is one of the most customer-friendly and responsive I’ve used.
We publish a subscription newsletter called The Insiders Report. We offer a free 30-day trial so you have nothing to lose by trying it out. Be sure to carefully read the TERMS OF SERVICE.
Another source for insider buying and selling and much more is FinViz Elite. FinViz stands for financial visualization and they do an amazing job of providing reams of data and the tools to help you get to the bottom of it, the information that helps me make informed decisions and probable outcomes. I’ve been using their site for years and it only gets better over time.
This is as close to “insider information” that an ordinary investor is likely to see- and it’s entirely legal.
BEWARE– Following insiders can be hazardous to your financial health unless you know what you are doing. Unlike the raw, unfiltered data, The Insiders Fund blog informs you of the purchases that count, the ones that are just window dressing into deceiving the public that all is hunky-dory, and those that are just flat out other people’s money and should be just discarded like bad fish. As a rule, we only look at material amounts of money, $200 thousand or more, as anything less could just be window dressing.
The bar is different from 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 and options. 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 is large planned sale programs that start without warning. Unfortunately, the public information disclosure requirements about these programs referred to as Rule 10b5-1 is horrendously poor. Also planned sales that just pop up out of nowhere are basically sales and are seeking cover under the Sarbanes Oxley corporate welfare clause. I also generally ignore 10 percent shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and perhaps not the smart money we are trying to read the tea leaves on.
Of course, insiders can also be wrong about their Company’s prospects. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing they never make mistakes. No one tracks and understands insider behavior better than us. We’ve been doing it religiously since 2001 when I quit being an insider myself and devoted myself full time to managing my personal investments. They can easily be wrong about how much others will value them, and in many cases, maybe most cases have no more idea what the future may hold than you or I. In short, you can lose money following them. We have and we curse aloud, what were they thinking! Needless to say, past good fortune is no guarantee of future success. We may own positions, long or short, in any of these names and are under no obligation to disclose that. We welcome your comments on our analysis.
This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. Investing with The Insiders Fund is for qualified investors and by Prospectus only. Nothing herein should be construed otherwise. THE INSIDERS FUND invests in companies at or near prices that management has been willing to invest significant amounts of their own money in. If you would like to hear more about how you can get involved with the Insiders Fund, please schedule some time on my calendar.
Prosperous Trading,
Harvey Sax
The Insiders Fund was the 4th best long-short equity fund in the world in 2019, 4th Best in November 2020, 4th Best in January 2021 (I kid you not)
