Curious how well insiders are doing with their buys? Scroll through the blog posts and see for yourself
A few insiders stepped up and bought shares in their companies stock. We try to figure out why when just about anything you buy goes down. With war raging in Europe, Russia weaponizing energy, the Fed on an aggressive tightening path, and the uncertainty of upcoming midterm elections, what’s there not to like?
U.S. equities fell again on Friday, marking six continuous days of sell-offs, aided by the fears that the Federal Reserve would keep aggressively hiking interest rates to fight inflation, knowing full well that rising rates will ultimately damage the economy. Their concern about the perniciousness of unemployment now seems overshadowed by their efforts to burnish their reputation. Powell knows this is his last hurrah as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and he doesn’t want his legacy being the Fed Chairman that let the inflation genie out of the bottle. Jobs be damned.
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Name: Donovan Paul
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-30 Shares Bought:5,300 Average Price Paid: $93.35 Cost: $494,752.00
Company: Woodward Inc. (WWD)
Control systems are designed, produced, and maintained by Woodward, Inc. for the global aerospace and industrial sectors. The business is divided into the aerospace and industrial areas. The Aerospace division offers flight deck controls, actuators, servo controls, motors, sensors, fuel pumps, metering units, air valves, specialized valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles. These goods are used in military fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, guided weapons, and other defensive systems in addition to commercial and private rotorcraft and aircraft. Additionally, it offers commercial airlines, repair facilities, military depots, third-party repair shops, and other end users aftermarket maintenance, repair, and overhaul services. This market sector offers its goods through aftermarket sales of components, such as furnishing spares or replacements and spare parts, to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), tier-one suppliers, and various contractors.
Mr. Donovan’s demonstrated leadership of large company corporate finance and tax departments provides the Board with expertise regarding the intricacies of tax, banking, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He also possesses direct knowledge of the power generation, transportation and aerospace markets, all of which are key business segments for Woodward. As a former member of the Office of the Chairman at Wisconsin Energy and a former member of the Executive Office at Sundstrand Corporation, Mr. Donovan contributes to the Board not only his strong knowledge of the markets in which Woodward competes, but also strong leadership and insight into large organizations. Paul Donovan left his position as special advisor to Wisconsin Energy Corporation’s chairman in 2004. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Donovan held the positions of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Wisconsin Energy Corporation. From June 1988 until August 1999, Mr. Donovan served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sundstrand Corporation, a producer of industrial and aerospace goods, before joining Wisconsin Energy Corporation.
Opinion: Donovan is a bean counter and he’s been buying stock in Woodward since May this year after being a seller since 2018. So what’s up? A drop in share price doesn’t seem like a sufficient explanation since some of the prior stock sales were at lower prices. Have the fortunes of the Company changed? Is there a catalyst? Woodward appointed a new CEO in May but he’s only bought token amount of new shares.
Name: Tobias Lutke
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-30 Shares Bought: 5,177 Average Price Paid: $67.95 Cost: $378,957.00
Company: Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN)
The technology and financial infrastructure for the crypto economy in the United States and elsewhere are provided by Coinbase Global, Inc. The company provides institutions with a market with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets, the primary financial account in the crypto economy for retailers, as well as technology and services that allow ecosystem partners to create crypto-based applications and securely accept crypto assets as payment. Based in Wilmington, Delaware, and established in 2012, Coinbase Global, Inc.
In September 2004, Tobias Lütke joined the board of directors of Shopify, which he helped co-found. The position of CEO has been held by Mr. Lütke since April 2008. Mr. Lütke served as the organization’s Chief Technology Officer from September 2004 until April 2008. Mr. Lütke produced many well-known open source libraries, including Active Merchant, while serving on the core team of the Ruby on Rails framework. Mr. Lütke presently has a position on Coinbase’s board (Nasdaq).
Opinion: Short seller Chanos says the Company is losing $1 billion per quarter. Tobias has been buying stock since Since August 11th at ever lower prices as part of an unusual 10b5-1 buying plan. Most insiders use 10b5-1 to sell stock, not buy it. I guess he believes the hype.
Name: Arthur B Laffer
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 4,701 Average Price Paid: $52.92 Cost: $248,777.00
Company: NexPoint Residential Trust Inc. (NXRT)
A publicly traded REIT, NexPoint Residential Trust is primarily focused on buying, owning, and operating well-located middle-income multifamily properties with “value-add” potential in major cities and suburban areas of major cities, primarily in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NXRT.” NexPoint Real Estate Advisors, L.P., an affiliate of NexPoint Advisors, L.P., an SEC-registered investment adviser with a wealth of real estate knowledge, provides external advice to NXRT.
Laffer Associates and Laffer Tengler Investments, Inc. were established by Arthur Betz Laffer. Dr. Laffer is now the Chairman and CEO of Laffer Advisors, Inc., the Chairman, and CEO of Laffer Associates, and the Chief of the Advisory Council of Laffer Tengler Investments, Inc. He serves on the boards of 13 more businesses. Dr. Laffer previously worked as an advisor for Castle Creek Capital LLC, Meakem Becker Venture Capital LLC, HealthEdge Investment Partners LLC, Vice President of Putnam LLC, Senior Manager at Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management, Advisor at ROTH Capital Partners LLC, First Chief Economist at US Office of Management & Budget, Professor at the University of Southern California, Associate Professor at The University of Chicago, and D. Yale University awarded Arthur Betz Laffer with his undergraduate degree. Stanford University awarded him with his MBA and Ph.D.
Opinion: Why would you buy a multifamily REIT only yielding 2.88% in an inflationary market where 5-Year High Quality Market (HQM) Corporate Bond Par Yield was 3.95% in July of 2022? Rents are probably rising.
Name: Michelle F Adams
Position: CFO
Transaction Date: 2022-08-30 Shares Bought: 39,000 Average Price Paid: $51.03 Cost: $1,990,170.00
Company: SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (SEAS)
In the United States, SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries run theme parks and provide entertainment. The corporation manages Busch Gardens theme parks in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia, in addition to the SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Florida, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, California. Additionally, it runs water park attractions in Williamsburg, Virginia, San Antonio, Texas, San Diego, California, and Chula Vista, California. The corporation also manages a park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and an Orlando, Florida, theme park that accepts reservations exclusively. Under the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Water Country USA, Adventure Island, and Sesame Place brands, it manages a network of twelve theme parks. In December 2012, the business, which was originally known as SW Holdco, Inc., changed its name to SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. The headquarters of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. are in Orlando, Florida, where it was established in 1959.
Since 2015, Adams has held the position of Chief Financial Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. She formerly held the positions of Chief Internal Auditor from August 2012 to April 2014 and Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller from May 2014 to May 2015. Adams worked at RubinBrown LLP from 2003 to 2012, where she held the positions of Partner-in-Charge of the Hospitality and Gaming Industry Group and Partner-in-Charge of Risk Services for the Business Advisory Services Group. This was prior to her time at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. She started working in public accounting in 1998 at Deloitte & Touche, where she held positions as a manager in the Enterprise Risk Services Group and a staff accountant for Assurance and Advisory Services. Adams holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Truman State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Opinion: Michelle was just hired as CFO of Sea World. That explains the purchase.
Name: Brandler Harry
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-03-31 Shares Bought: 25,000 Average Price Paid: $19.97 Cost: $499,250.00
Company: Green Brick Partners Inc. (GRBK)
Green Brick Partners, Inc. is a home building and property development corporation with a diverse portfolio. In its residential neighborhoods and master planned communities, the Company is involved in all parts of the home building process, including site acquisition and development, entitlements, design, construction, title and mortgage services, marketing and sales, and others; it acquires and develops land and builds homes in four markets. Its primary markets include the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan areas, as well as the Treasure Coast region of Florida. In addition, it has a noncontrolling stake in Colorado Springs. It is divided into three segments: Central Builder Operations, Southeast Builder Operations, and Land Development. Builder operations Central represents its Texas-based builders, whilst Builder operations Southeast represents its Georgia and Florida-based builders. Through its eight brands of the build.
Since October 2014, Mr. Brandler has been a member of the board of directors. From December 2001 to January 2019, Mr. Brandler was the Chief Financial Officer of Greenlight Capital, Inc. before retiring. Mr. Brandler worked as the Chief Financial Officer of Wheatley Partners, a venture capital firm, from 2000 to 2001. He handled the firm’s back office operations and overhauled the firm’s marketing, client relations, and technology. Mr. Brandler worked at Goldstein, Golub & Kessler from 1996 to 2000, where he offered audit, tax, and advisory services to investment partnerships and other financial organizations. In January 1999, he was promoted to Manager. Mr. Brandler graduated from New York University with a B.S. in Accounting in 1993. Mr. Brandler was admitted as a Certified Public Accountant in New York in 1996.
Opinion: GRBK has held up surprising well in a housing market under siege from the Fed.
Name: Leslie E Bider
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 25,000 Average Price Paid: $19.94 Cost: $498,500.00
Company: Douglas Emmett Inc. (DEI)
Name: William E Simon Jr
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 25,000 Average Price Paid: $19.89 Cost: $497,250.00
Company: Douglas Emmett Inc. (DEI)
A fully integrated, self-managed, and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT), Douglas Emmett, Inc. (DEI) is one of the leading owners and operators of premium office and multifamily buildings situated in the most prestigious coastal submarkets of Honolulu and Los Angeles. In areas with severe supply limitations, upscale executive housing, and essential lifestyle amenities, Douglas Emmett concentrates on owning and purchasing a sizeable portion of premium office buildings and multifamily developments.
Former CEO of PinnacleCare International, Inc., Leslie E. Bider serves on the boards of 5 more businesses. He previously held the positions of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Warner, Chief Operating & Financial Officer for Warner Bros. Music International, Inc., Chief Strategist at ITU Ventures LLC, Managing Partner at Bider & Montgomery, and Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Bider & Montgomery. Both the University of Southern California and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania awarded undergraduate and graduate degrees to Mr. Bider.
Mr. William E. Simon, Jr. has positions as a professor at the University of Southern California, co-chairman of William E. Simon & Sons LLC, and independent director of Douglas Emmett, Inc. He is on the boards of directors for both Douglas Emmett, Inc. and The Heritage Foundation. In 1988, Mr. Simon helped establish William E. Simon & Sons. Earlier in his career, he assisted then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani in the Southern District of New York as an assistant US attorney. Mr. Simon graduated from Williams College with a bachelor’s degree and the Boston University School of Law with a law degree.
Opinion: Office REITS are getting crushed. If you believe the world is coming back to work the way it did, this might be a good buy. I for one believe there will be a permanent hybrid method and we need a lot less office space than we did just a couple of years ago.
Name: Gary E Hendrickson
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-09-02 Shares Bought: 27,145 Average Price Paid: $18.47 Cost: $501,368.00
Company: AZEK Co Inc. (AZEK)
The AZEK Company Inc. creates, produces, and promotes construction materials for domestic residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The two operating sectors are residential and commercial. Under the brands TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, and ULTRALOX, the Residential division develops and produces engineered outdoor living goods, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, and accessories. Its Commercial business produces engineered polymer materials utilized in a variety of industries, including the outdoor, educational, recreational, graphic displays and signs, food processing, and chemical sectors. Under the brand names Aria, Eclipse, Hiny Hiders, TuffTec, and Duralife, this division also provides restroom partitions, shower, and dressing cubicles, lockers, and other storage solutions to schools, parks, stadium arenas, industrial plants, and retail, recreational, and commercial institutions.
Gary E. Hendrickson now serves as Chairman of The AZEK Co., Inc., Chairman of The AZEK Co. LLC (a subsidiary of The AZEK Co., Inc.), Advisor at PPC Investment Partners LP, and Chairman of the Board at a number of other organizations. Additionally, he serves on Polaris Inc.’s board. He formerly served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Valspar Corp. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree and Harvard University with an MBA.
Opinion: Insiders have been steadily buying this stock since February at lower prices. This last purchase was done at 60% of the first one. This is hard way to make money.
Name: Marc C Ganzi
Position: CEO
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 27,943 Average Price Paid: $17.83 Cost: $498,224.00
Company: DigitalBridge Group Inc. (DBRG)
An infrastructure investment company is called DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG). Cell towers, data centers, fiber, tiny cells, edge infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and real estate are just a few of the industries it invests in and runs. With its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, and offices also in Los Angeles, California, New York, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado, London, United Kingdom, Senningerberg, Luxembourg, and Singapore, DigitalBridge Group, Inc. was established in 2009.
Marc C. Ganzi has more than 25 years of experience as an investor and operator in the digital infrastructure market. He now serves as CEO of DigitalBridge. Mr. Ganzi oversaw the growth of DigitalBridge into a top platform for investing in real estate and digital infrastructure. Prior to its merger with the current publicly traded company, DigitalBridge Group, Inc., in July 2019, Mr. Ganzi founded Digital Bridge Holdings in 2013 and served as its CEO while growing the company into a market-leading global manager of digital infrastructure assets with more than $20 billion in AUM. The Wharton School of Business awarded Mr. Ganzi a Bachelor of Science in 1993. He served as chairman of the Wireless Infrastructure Association’s board from 2009 to 2011 while also being a board member from 2008 to 2017. He participates in both the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and the Young Presidents’ Organization.
Opinion: Show me the money. DBRG pays no dividend.
Name: Joe T Ford
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-30 Shares Bought: 107,000 Average Price Paid: $12.15 Cost: $1,300,050.00
Company: Westrock Coffee Co (WEST)
Coffee is roasted, produced, and distributed by Westrock Coffee Company, LLC. It sells coffee and tea along with brewing supplies and dispensers, creamer, sugar, and other coffee-related accessories. Its products also include the following: westrock coffee airscape container, rwanda select reserve, colombia select reserve, east African blend, organic sumatran blend, westrock coffee ceramic mug, burlap tote, travel mug, westrock coffee t-shirt, westrock coffee elephant hoodie, and westrock coffee retro box hoodie. The business offers its goods and services to workplaces, grocery stores, universities, coffee shops, and restaurants. It also exports goods via a subsidiary firm. Additionally, it offers its goods for sale online. Coffee Legends, LLC was the previous name of Westrock Coffee Company, LLC. The business is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, and it was established in 2009.
Joe is the chairman of Westrock Group, LLC as well. He started his telecommunications career with the Little Rock-based Allied Telephone Company, rising to the position of president of that company in 1977 before becoming chairman of the wireless voice and data communications service provider Alltel Corporation. Joe is a member of the Westrock Asset Management and Westrock Coffee Company boards of directors. The Dial Corporation, Duke Energy Company, Eltek, ASA, Beverly Enterprises Company, En-Pro Industries, Textron Inc., and the United States Chamber of Commerce were among the boards of directors he previously served on.
Opinion:
Name: Jeffrey L. Swope
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 42,000 Average Price Paid: $11.90 Cost: $499,800.00
Company: Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. (PDM)
The majority of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc.’s revenue comes from the Sunbelt. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper, and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in specific submarkets within seven major Eastern U.S. office markets. It presently has over 17 million square feet of regionally diverse, $5 billion worth of a real estate. S&P Global Ratings (BBB) and Moody’s have given the Company investment-grade ratings, and it is a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with local management offices in each of its markets (Baa2). At the conclusion of the third quarter, over 41% of the company’s portfolio was LEED certified, and about 63% of the portfolio was ENERGY STAR certified.
Since 2008, Jeffrey L. Swope has been a Piedmont director. He founded Champion Partners Ltd., which has been a national developer and investor of office, industrial, and retail buildings since 1991, and serves as its founder, managing partner, and CEO. A private real estate capital and investment firm called Champion Private Equity and Centre Development Co., Inc. were both created by Mr. Swope. He is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (“ULI”) and the Director of the ULI Foundation, as well as the founding Chair of The Real Estate Council and the Real Estate and Finance Center at the University of Texas. Mr. Swope is a member of the Dallas Board of Commercial Developers and the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. He is also a trustee for the Business School Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board for the Business School at the University of Texas at Austin.
Opinion: Ditto on what I said about office REITs earlier.
Name: Kyle David Lorentzen
Position: CFO
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 17,700 Average Price Paid: $10.69 Cost: $189,209.00
Company: CommScope Holding Company Inc. (COMM)
Name: Treadway Charles L.
Position: CEO
Transaction Date: 2022-08-26 Shares Bought: 48,076 Average Price Paid: $10.41 Cost: $500,428.00
Company: CommScope Holding Company Inc. (COMM)
CommScope Inc. is an American global network infrastructure provider company based in Hickory, North Carolina. CommScope employs over 30,000 employees worldwide. With customers in over 130 countries. The company joined the NASDAQ stock exchange on October 25, 2013. CommScope designs and manufactures a variety of network infrastructure products. It has four business segments: Home Networks, Broadband Networks, Venue, Campus Networks, and Outdoor Wireless Networks. At CommScope, they push the boundaries of communications technology to create the world’s most advanced networks. They design, manufacture, install and support the hardware infrastructure and software intelligence that enables their digital society to interact and thrive. Working with customers, they advance broadband, enterprise, and wireless networks to power progress and create lasting connections. Across the globe, their people and solutions are redefining connectivity, solving today’s challenges, and driving the innovation that will meet the needs of what’s next.
At CommScope Holding Co., Inc., Kyle David Lorentzen serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer. He previously held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for Express Energy Services LLC, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Accudyne Industries LLC, Chief Executive Officer-Ravenswood Operations at Constellium SE, Finance Director for Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc., Vice President-Corporate Development for Berry Global, Inc., and Vice President-Epoxy & Phenolics Finance Division at Momentive Specialty Chemicals. Both Kyle David Lorentzen’s undergraduate and MBA degrees were earned at Wake Forest University and the University of Massachusetts, respectively.
Charles L. Treadway is a successful businessman who has led six separate businesses. Mr. Treadway is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of CommScope Holding Co., Inc. and President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of CommScope, Inc. at the moment. He was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Custom Sensors & Technologies, Inc., Chief Executive Officer of Accudyne Industries LLC, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABB Installation Products, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Prettl International, Inc., and Region Division Manager-Low Voltage Products at ABB, Inc.
Opinion: There has been a lot of insider buying in this name but I don’t know if the Company can overcome the debt incurred from their disastrous purchase of Arris for $7.4 Billion.
Name: Todd J Stein
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-25 Shares Bought: 41,659 Average Price Paid: $7.32 Cost: $304,899.00
Company: Spok Holdings Inc. (SPOK)
Healthcare communication solutions are offered by Spok Holdings, Inc. through its subsidiary Spok, Inc. throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. When and when it counts, it provides clinical information to care teams to improve patient outcomes. The firm sells devices to resellers who lease or resell them to their customers. It also provides subscriptions to one-way or two-way messaging services, as well as auxiliary services like voicemail and equipment loss or maintenance protection services. Clinicians’ processes are improved by its Spok Care Connect technology, which also supports administrative compliance. The business also offers third-party equipment in addition to professional software license upgrades and product support services. It assists companies, professionals, management staff, medical staff, field sales staff, and service forces, as well as members of the building trades and the construction industry, real estate brokers and developers, manufacturing organizations, specialty trade organizations, and governmental agencies.
In July 2018, Todd Stein was appointed as a director of Spok. He is an Audit Committee member. Mr. Stein is a Co-Investment Manager of Braeside Investments, LLC, a private investment partnership investment manager specializing in international small and micro-cap equities with headquarters in Dallas. Applying the fundamental analysis to buy inexpensive assets is Stein’s area of expertise. Stein worked as a portfolio manager at Q Investments, L.P. before helping to start Braeside in 2004. Stein co-managed a merger arbitrage portfolio while working at Q Investments, L.P., and he was also the company’s lead analyst for its short distressed/bankrupt stocks portfolio. In order to represent United Airlines’ official creditors on the committee, Stein was chosen by the U.S. Trustee of the Northern District of Illinois in 2002. Stein has the title of Chartered Financial Analyst.
Opinion: This looks like shares bought by a hedge fund Braeside Capital. We typically discount that.
Name: Martin William C
Position: Chief Strategy Officer
Transaction Date: 2022-08-25 Shares Bought: 45,141 Average Price Paid: $5.68 Cost: $256,576.00
Company: Immersion Corp (IMMR)
Immersion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, scales, and licenses haptic technologies that enable people in North America, Europe, and Asia to interact with and experience diverse digital goods using their sense of touch. Technology, patent, and mixed licensing are all available through the firm. It also offers software development kits (SDKs) that include tools, integration software, and effect libraries for designing, encoding, and playing back tactile effects in the video. In addition, the firm provides reference designs and reference technologies, as well as engineering and integration services, as well as software and firmware services.
Indie Research LLC, Princeton Equity Group, LLC, and Raging Bull, Inc. are among the five firms he founded. William Charles Martin is the Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Raging Capital Management LLC (which he formed in 2006) and the Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Immersion Corp., both of which he founded. Mr. Martin’s past positions include Chairman of the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network LLC, Principal of Indie Research LLC (which he started in 2010), and Partner of Princeton Equity Group, LLC (he founded the company in 2013).
Opinion: I don’t like investing in patent trolls.
Name: Ronny B Lancaster
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-26 Shares Bought: 50,000 Average Price Paid: $4.00 Cost: $200,000.00
Company: Orasure Technologies Inc (OSUR)
OraSure Technologies, Inc. develops, produces, distributes, and sells oral fluid diagnostic products and specimen collection devices in the United States, Europe, and other countries with the help of its subsidiaries. Molecular Solutions and Diagnostics make up its two business sectors. The main items offered by the firm are the InteliSwab COVID-19 fast test, COVID-19 rapid test pro, and COVID-19 rapid test Rx. OraSure oral fluid collection device used in conjunction with screening and confirmatory tests for HIV-1 antibodies; Intercept drug testing systems; immunoassay tests and reagents; and Q.E.D. saliva alcohol test are examples of OraQuick products. They also include OraQuick Rapid HIV test, OraQuick In-Home HIV test, OraQuick HIV self-test, OraQuick HCV rapid antibody test, OraQuick Ebola rapid antigen test, and Ora Additionally; it provides GenoFIND genomics laboratory services, microbiome collection kits, and genomics products under the Oragene and ORAcollect brands. Additionally, the business sells collecting tools called ORAcollect, RNA and OMNIgene, and RAL that are used in conjunction with COVID-19 molecular testing.
Ronny B. Lancaster is on the board of directors for OraSure Technologies, Inc. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Pennsylvania State Bar Association. He previously held the positions of general counsel for Hamilton Enterprises, Inc., senior vice president for federal government relations at Assurant, Inc., principal deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of Health & Human Services (DC), chief operating officer, and senior vice president for Morehouse School of Medicine, and senior representative in Washington for the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association. Ronny B. Lancaster graduated with a bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America, an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and a law degree from Georgetown University.
Opinion: Orasure completely missed the boat on at home tests for Covid. The home test market should be a great one but the company has managed to blow it. I think a new CEO buying large dollar amounts combined with his CFO buying is what it would take to get me into this loser.
Name: James Huang
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-24 Shares Bought: 44,527 Average Price Paid: $3.75 Cost: $166,930.00
Transaction Date: 2022-08-31 Shares Bought: 37,196 Average Price Paid: $3.74 Cost: $139,036.00
Company: CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CASI)
A biopharmaceutical firm called CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. creates and markets pharmaceutical and therapeutic products in China, the US, and other countries. It provides EVOMELA, an intravenous melphalan formulation, for use as a conditioning therapy before stem cell transplantation and as palliative therapy for multiple myeloma patients. CNCT19, an autologous CD19 CAR-T investigative product for the treatment of patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), is part of the company’s product pipeline. CB-5339, which is in Phase I clinical trial for acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and BI-1206, which is in Phase I/II trial in combination with the anti-PD1 therapy Keytruda for solid tumours and in Phase I/IIa trial in combination with MabThera (rituximab) in patients with relapsed/refractory NHL.
Since April 2013, Mr. Huang has served as a director of the company. In 2011, Mr. Huang became a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China, where he concentrates on the company’s life sciences practice. His primary financial interests are in healthcare innovation for China’s expanding market and in assisting business owners in creating successful enterprises. James was a managing partner at Vivo Ventures, a venture capital company that specialized in health sciences investments, before joining KPCB China. James oversaw various investments in China when he was with Vivo. James served as president of Anesiva, a biopharmaceutical firm specializing in pain management therapies, before joining Vivo in 2007. He has held top positions in business development, sales, marketing, and R&D over his 20-year career in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors with Tularik Inc. (acquired by Amgen), GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, and ALZA Corp.
Opinion: I’ve never lost so much money on paper in a stock that I continue to buy. CASI has the biggest risk reward potential of any public company I follow, but the degrading China American relationship is putting a damper on my enthusiasm. I’ve blogged quite a bit on this name. Do a search on the blog and you’ll turn up more analysis. I bought more stock on this recent round of buying. It’s one of the few names acting relatively well outperforming the market by 59% over the last 4 weeks.
Name: William Paul Livek
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2022-08-25 Shares Bought: 350,000 Average Price Paid: $2.09 Cost: $731,623.00
Company: Comscore Inc. (SCOR)
In the United States, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and globally, the information and analytics firm ComScore, Inc. evaluates advertising, consumer behavior, and audiences across media platforms. The business provides ratings and planning products and services, such as Media Metrix Multi-Platform and Mobile Metrix, which measure websites and mobile apps on computers, smartphones, and tablets; Video Metrix, which measures digital video consumption; Plan Metrix, which provides an understanding of consumer lifestyle; TV Essentials, which combines TV viewing data with marketing segmentation and consumer databases; and StationView Essentials, which helps consumers understand their television viewing habits. Comscore Campaign Ratings, which verifies mobile and desktop video campaigns, OnDemand Essentials, which offers transactional tracking and reporting; and validated Campaign Essentials, which determines whether digital ad impressions are visible to humans, identify those that are fraudulent and confirms that ads are shown in brand-safe content and delivered to the right and, are also included in its ratings and planning products and services.
William P. Livek is an entrepreneur and businessman who founded Symmetric Capital LLC, Transactional Data Solutions LLC, and Symmetrical Resources, Inc. He has also served as the CEO of 8 different organizations and is currently Executive Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of comScore, Inc. He serves on the ALC Corp. board as well. Mr. Livek has previously served as the co-chairman and owner of Simmons Research LLC, the chief executive of Symmetric Capital LLC, the president, and CEO of Birch, the president and CEO of Scarborough Research, the president and CEO of ADcom Information Services, Inc., the vice chairman and CEO of Rentrak Corp., the president of Symmetrical Resources, Inc., and the SVP-Strategic Alliances & International Expansion at Expe. Mr. Livek graduated from Southern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree.
Opinion: Not sure this company is going to survive. New management is hopeful.
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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 within 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. SECForm4 is one of the smaller ones but I like supporting Frank. He is not arrogant. He’s helpful and has great prices. He also trades on his own data so I like people that eat what they kill.
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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 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. Do your own analysis. They can easily be wrong, and in many cases, maybe most cases have no more idea what the future may hold than you or me. In short, you can lose money following them. We have and we curse aloud, what were they thinking!
We like Fly on the Wall for keeping up with what events might be happening, analysts’ comments, and whatever else could be moving the stock. Dow Jones news service is an essential tool but many services pick up their feed like they do Bloomberg. For quick financial analysis, it’s hard to beat Old School Value.
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. 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
