When I started developing the Insiders Fund’s strategy in 2001, I knew I would miss out on some of the all-time greatest investments since founders of disruptive companies are loaded to the gills with their own company’s stock and don’t need to buy more of it. That was all right with me if could forgo this “pot of gold” and by doing so avoid the scams, frauds, and charlatans that populate the financial world. This week we have the rare insider buy at a potential pot of gold, Vicarious Surgical, a true med tech disruptor.
Name: John Morici
Position: EVP & Chief Financial Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 587 Average Price Paid: $341.84 Cost: $200,660.00
Company: Align Technology Inc (ALGN)
Name: Joseph M Hogan
Position: President and CEO
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 2,928 Average Price Paid: $341.50 Cost: $999,912.00
Company: Align Technology Inc (ALGN)
Align Technology, Inc.’s core business operations include designing, manufacturing, and marketing Invisalign clear aligners, iTero intraoral scanners and dental services, and exocad computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing software for dental labs and dental professionals. The firm promotes and distributes consumer products, including retainers, aligner cases, teeth whitening treatments, and cleaning solutions under Invisalign and other brands, in addition to the things mainly suggested by a doctor. The primary goals are to make clear aligners the standard treatment for malocclusions, or tooth misalignment, the Invisalign system the preferred treatment option for patients, general dentists, and orthodontists worldwide, intraoral scanners the standard scanning device for digital dental scans, and exocad CAD/CAM software the standard choice for dental labs.
John Morici joined Align Technology in November 2016 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and is in charge of the company’s worldwide finance and financial strategy. Mr. Morici has held senior leadership roles in finance, operations, and strategic planning in healthcare, medical technology, and consumer/entertainment during his more than 20-year career. As Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Mr. Morici was in charge of all finance, sales, marketing, operations, and customer service groups, as well as overall strategy and planning. Before joining NBC Universal, Mr. Morici worked for GE Healthcare for eight years in key financial management roles, including CFO for the Diagnostic Imaging and Global Products divisions. While at Case New Holland and Abbott Laboratories, he held various finance management positions. Mr. Morici graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an M.B.A. in Finance and a B.S. with Honors in Molecular Biology.
Joseph M. Hogan became President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and a Director of Align Technology in June 2015. Mr. Hogan is a successful CEO with experience in a variety of areas, including healthcare, technology, and industrial automation. Mr. Hogan was the CEO of ABB, a large amount worldwide power and automation technologies firm based in Zurich, Switzerland, before joining Align. Mr. Hogan oversaw a 25% rise in revenue over his five years at ABB. Prior to joining ABB, Mr. Hogan spent 25 years at General Electric, including eight years as CEO of GE Healthcare, where he oversaw significant global and market portfolio development and more than quadrupled revenue.
Opinion: I bought a little Align last time the CEO bought stock, $2Million worth last November at $188.58 per share. I thought it was expensive then and tagged along and made some money but sold way too soon. Now Hogan is paying nearly twice as much buying $1 million worth at $341.50 per share. This is either irrational or something’s up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it except for founder Moskovitz’s completely inexplicable buying of Asana all the way from $30 to $100 back to $18.
Name: John A Stall
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 4,000 Average Price Paid: $74.89 Cost: $299,560.00
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
Name: Terrell Kirk II Crews
Position: EVP Finance and CFO
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 2,672 Average Price Paid: $74.87 Cost: $200,053.00
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
Name: Amy B Lane
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 1,000 Average Price Paid: $74.86 Cost: $74,864.00
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
Name: James Lawrence Camaren
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-09 Shares Bought: 2,000 Average Price Paid: $73.50 Cost: $146,991
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
Name: David L Porges
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-09 Shares Bought: 7,000 Average Price Paid: $73.27 Cost: $512,862
Company: Nextera Energy Inc (NEE)
NEE is one of North America’s leading electric power and energy infrastructure corporations and a pioneer in the renewable energy market. FPL and NEER are NEE’s two main companies. FPL is the biggest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest in the United States. FPL’s strategy emphasizes investing in a generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure to deliver on its value promise of cheap customer bills, high dependability, exceptional customer service, and sustainable energy solutions. NEER is the world’s biggest producer of wind and solar energy and a global pioneer in battery storage. NEER’s strategic emphasis is on developing, building, and managing long-term contracted assets in the United States and Canada, particularly sustainable energy solutions such as renewable generating facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission lines.
Mr. Stall retired from NextEra Energy in 2010 after serving in various nuclear leadership posts. He was also a leader at Dominion Energy, Inc.’s North Anna nuclear-generating unit. Mr. Stall formerly had a Nuclear Regulatory Commission senior reactor operator license and was a previously licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Stall earned a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering from the University of Florida, and Virginia Commonwealth University awarded him a Master of Business Administration.
Mr. Terrell K. Crews, II is the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of NextEra Energy, Inc., as well as the Vice President-Business Management of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, the Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of NextEra Energy Partners GP, Inc., and a Member of The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Crews formerly worked at NextEra Energy Partners LP as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller, at the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a Chief Accountant, and at Deloitte & Touche LLP as a Partner. Mr. Crews graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a minor in leadership studies. He also finished Stanford University’s Emerging CFO – Strategic Financial Leadership Program.
Ms. Lane retired in 2002 as managing director and group head of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.’s (“Merrill Lynch”) worldwide Retailing Investment Banking Group. Before joining Merrill Lynch in 1997, she was a managing director at Salomon Brothers, Inc., an investment banking company, where she developed and headed the retail sector investment banking business. She joined Salomon Brothers in 1989. Ms. Lane has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Camaren is an individual investor. He was the chairman and CEO of Companies, Inc., one of the biggest investor-owned water utilities in the United States, which Nuon, a Dutch firm, bought, then sold Utilities, Inc. He joined Utilities, Inc. and worked as vice president of business development, executive vice president, and vice chairman before becoming chairman and CEO. Mr. Camaren has been a NextEra Energy director since 2002. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, for his undergraduate studies and Carnegie Mellon University for his Ph.D. studies.
David L. Porges is a businessman who has led ten different firms. He is now Treasurer & Trustee of Winchester Thurston School and Chairman of RM Partners LP. David L. Porges has previously held the positions of Executive Chairman for EQT Corp., Director at Equitrans Midstream Corp., Chairman of EQM Midstream Partners LP, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of EQGP Holdings LP, Chairman of EQM Midstream Services LLC, Chairman for EQM Midstream Management LLC, and Chairman for EQGP Services LLC, President & Chief Executive Officer of UGI Penn Natural Gas, Inc., Principal at Exxon Corp., Managing He earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Opinion: Premier electric utility with best in class inventory of renewable power generation. The good companies rarely look cheap. Buffett and Charlie Munger moved from buying cigar butts that were cheap on to accumulating good companies at fair prices, accumulating fabulous wealth along the way. NextEra falls into the latter group.
Name: James E Murray
Position: EVP Chief Operating Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 6,750 Average Price Paid: $73.30 Cost: $494,775.00
Company: Centene Corp (CNC)
Name: Theodore R. II Samuels
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 7,000 Average Price Paid: $71.88 Cost: $503,160.00
Company: Centene Corp (CNC)
Centene Corp is a renowned multi-national healthcare corporation dedicated to assisting people in living better lives. The company takes a local strategy – with local branding and local teams – to deliver fully integrated, high-quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, with an emphasis on the underinsured and uninsured. In addition, the organization offers education and outreach activities to educate and support members in obtaining excellent, relevant healthcare services. The local strategy, which includes member and provider services, offers the communities affordable, high-quality, culturally appropriate healthcare coverage. The population health management, educational, and other initiatives are intended to assist members in making the best use of the healthcare system to receive appropriate, medically necessary services and effective management of routine, severe, and chronic health problems, resulting in improved health outcomes.
James E. Murray is a businessman who has led five different firms. Mr. Murray is the CEO of LifeCare Health Ltd., the Chief Executive Officer of LifeCare Hospitals LLC, and the Chief Operating Officer of Humana Wisconsin Health Organization Insurance Corp. He also serves on the boards of Continucare Corp., CHA HMO, Inc., and Centene Corp. as Chief Transformation Officer. He has previously served as President of Primewest Health, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Humana, Inc., Chief Operating Officer for Humana Employers Health Plan of Georgia, Inc., Chief Executive Officer of Lifecare Health Partners, President and Chief Operating Officer of Magellan Health, Inc., and Partner at Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Murray earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton.
Theodore Samuels has over 35 years of experience in the financial sector and brings significant commercial and operational abilities to the Board, notably in economics, capital markets, and investment decision-making. Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and six other corporations are represented on the Board of directors by Theodore Rapp Samuels. He served as President of Capital Guardian Trust Co., Analyst of Inland Steel Co., Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Capital International, Inc., Portfolio Manager of Capital Research & Management Co. (International Investors), and Co-Chairman of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Mr. Samuels has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Opinion: CNC has been in free fall so far in 2023. These two buys will probably arrest the fall but not sure if they will do much for the price action. If you don’t want to be surprised by Government meddling, don’t buy health insurance businesses that cater to Medicare or the State of California. CNC just settled at $215M judgement with the California AG. Loop Capital says Centene has been one of the worst performers of the managed care stocks but is now carries one of the lowest multiples, with a 40% current discount to fair value and earnings growth expected to average 12% per year through 2024. In other words, BUY.
Name: Charles V. Magro
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 40,000 Average Price Paid: $60.64 Cost: $2,425,480.00
Company: Corteva Inc. (CTVA)
Corteva is a worldwide leader in agriculture’s seed and crop protection solutions, contributing to a healthier, more secure, and sustainable food supply. Corteva was founded in Delaware in March 2018 and had its corporate offices in Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm is concentrating on improving its science-based innovation to provide its clients with better goods and services. Corteva has one of the most diverse and prolific new product pipelines in agriculture. The firm aspires to build on its strong scientific background to develop its robust innovation pipeline and create the future of responsible agriculture. New products are critical to resolving farmers’ productivity issues in the face of a rising global population, natural resistance, regulatory changes, safety standards, and competitive dynamics. The company’s investment in technology-based and solution-based product offerings enables it to fulfill farmers’ changing demands while assuring adequate returns on investment.
Charles V. Magro is a businessman who has led seven separate enterprises. Mr. Magro is now the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Corteva, Inc., the Chief Executive Officer and Director of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and the Chief Executive Officer of Corteva Agriscience Malaysia Sdn Bhd. He is also the Chairman of the Nutrients for Life Foundation and serves on the boards of six other corporations. He formerly served as President, CEO, and Non-Independent Director at Nutrien Ltd., as well as President, CEO, and Non-Independent Director at Agrium, Inc., Vice President-Investor Relations at NOVA Chemicals Corp., and Director at The Fertilizer Institute. Mr. Magro has an MBA from the University of Windsor and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo.
Opinion: Big insider buy in this June 2019 spinoff of DowDuPont’s agricultural business. Is it part of some mandatory corporate ownership program? It sure has this look since CEO Magro bought nearly an identical dollar amount last year at this time. At any rate shareholder’s are not complaining as last year’s purchase is up 20% and you can’t say that about many stocks you own. I’ve spent enough time already trying to figure out the CEO’s compensation in the proxy. Old School Value flashes “WARNING” across it’s AI scoring. The stock popped on the news of this purchase so wait until it pulls back some if you want at seat at the ag table. Solid long term play here.
Name: Robert S Keane
Position: CEO Chairman
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 22,179 Average Price Paid: $39.08 Cost: $866,675.00
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 19,687 Average Price Paid: $36.56 Cost: $719,705.00
Company: Cimpress plc (CMPR)
Cimpress is a strategically focused network of more than a dozen enterprises specializing in mass customization of printing and associated goods, allowing them to promptly provide large quantities of individually small-sized customized orders. Marketing materials, business cards, signs, promotional goods, branded wear, packaging, books and periodicals, wall décor, picture merchandise, invitations and announcements, and more categories are among the company’s offerings. Mass customization is a major component of each Cimpress organization’s business model and a competitive strategy that attempts to provide products and services to satisfy specific client demands with near-mass production efficiency. The firm goes into further information about mass customization lower down. This decentralized structure is advantageous in several ways. According to the corporation, decentralization allows organizations to be more customer-oriented and make better choices quicker than a centralized structure.
Robert is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Cimpress, a strategic investment and development firm that invests in and creates customer-focused, entrepreneurial, mass customization companies to benefit consumers, team members, long-term shareholders, and society. He created the firm in 1995 to provide high-quality, full-color, professionally-designed marketing materials to small companies at a cheap cost, in low numbers, effortlessly and promptly. During the company’s early days, Robert worked as an external consultant for Microsoft with the Microsoft Publisher desktop publishing product team, investigating and advising on small European companies graphic design and printing requirements. He received his B.A. in Economics from Harvard College in the United States and his MBA from France. Before joining INSEAD, he worked for nine years in management consulting and general management at a small firm focusing on designing and manufacturing bespoke electronic components for the military and aerospace industries.
Opinion: Think Vistaprint, it’s largest division when you analyze these large insider buys.
Name: Philip Liang
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-02-07 Shares Bought: 56,180 Average Price Paid: $3.08 Cost: $172,956
Transaction Date: 2023-02-08 Shares Bought: 79,009 Average Price Paid: $3.05 Cost: $240,740
Transaction Date: 2023-02-06 Shares Bought: 26,811 Average Price Paid: $3.05 Cost: $81,774.00
Company: Vicarious Surgical Inc. (RBOT)
Vicarious Surgical Inc. is integrating miniature robotics, computer science, and 3D visualization to create the Vicarious System. This single-incision surgical robot takes physicians inside the patient to conduct minimally invasive surgery or MIS. The company’s breakthrough next-generation robotics technology aims to boost the efficiency of surgical operations, improve patient outcomes, and lower healthcare costs. The company’s goal is to bring the next generation to robotic-assisted surgery to eliminate the inadequacies of open surgery and existing laparoscopic and robot-assisted MIS. A visionary team of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, leads it. The business has created many prototypes and has pre-submission meetings with the FDA to ensure everyone is on the same page with the regulatory approach. The company intends to submit a de novo application with the FDA for ventral hernia surgeries as the first indication.
Mr. Philip Liang has been a member of the board of directors since the Business Combination Closing in September 2021, and he previously served on the Legacy Vicarious Board. Mr. Liang formerly served as a managing partner of E15VC, a worldwide technology venture firm. He is also a Board Member of CaeliVascular and E15VC. Mr. Liang guides rising growth firms and investors through the venture capital life cycle. Mr. Liang is on the boards of directors of many E15VC-affiliated firms. Mr. Liang graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006 with a Master of Science in Media Laboratory. Mr. Liang’s credentials for service on the board of directors include past board experience as a member of the Legacy Vicarious Board, as well as business and financial expertise at E15VC.
Opinion: The fallen angel was formed late in the SPAC mania. It claims early VCs like Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt ex-Chairman of Google, Khosla Ventures, and Marc Benioff CEO of Salesforce, just to mention a few of the A-List early investors. Trading at a 70% discount to the SPAC offering, a Vicarious Surgical Director is buying up shares of this fallen angel. It looks like a moonshot, at a bare minimum. Vicarious Surgical has spent 10 years developing its breakthrough technology to bring the robot itself, arms, brains, hands, and all inside the abdominal wall. Timeline 4th quarter 2024 FDA submission
Company slide deck December 2022
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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.
The bar is different from selling because the natural state of management is to be a seller. 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 this corporate welfare loophole. 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. I say generally because some 10% shareholders are great investors. Think Warren Buffett, Icahn, and others
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.
This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. Don’t rely on this blog. Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor. We welcome your comments on our analysis but please do your own research. Investing with The Insiders Fund is for qualified investors and by Prospectus only. Nothing herein should be construed otherwise. THE INSIDERS FUND prefers to invest in companies at or near prices that management has been willing to invest significant amounts of their own money in but we have no requirement to do so. We also invest in many companies in anticipation of future insider buying or with the expectation that there is none at all. 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
