Insider Buying Week 08-23-24- They are Back

The treasure hunt continues.  Will insiders provide any clues for that nugget of gold in the tailings of a well-picked over-market?  There are a few notable buys, insiders coming back to purchase more in stocks that seem hard to rationalize why.  This week, we take a deeper dive into those repeat buyers keeping in mind that the most notable thing is that they are back.

 

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Name: C Raymond Jr Larkin
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2024-08-15 Shares Bought: 6,500 Average Price Paid: $235.33 Cost: $1,529,645
Company: Align Technology Inc (ALGN)

Align Technology, Inc. was established in 1997 and is based in Tempe, Arizona. The company creates, manufactures, and sells Invisalign clear aligners, as well as iTero intraoral scanners and services, to orthodontists and general practitioners in the United States, Switzerland, and across the world. The Clear Aligner segment of the company provides comprehensive products, including the Invisalign comprehensive package, which addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and the Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 packages, which are a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth for younger patients aged six to ten years. The segment also offers Invisalign moderate, lite, and express packages, as well as Invisalign Go and Invisalign Go Plus; retention products, Invisalign training, and adjusting tools used by dental professionals during treatment; the Invisalign Palatal Expander, a 3D printed orthodontic device; and 3D printing solutions.

C. Raymond Larkin, Jr. has been a director of Align Technology since March 2004. In February 2006, Mr. Larkin was named Chairman of the Board. He is currently a principal of Group Outcome L.L.C., a merchant banking organization focused on medical innovations. From 2001 to 2007, he worked as a part-time Venture Partner with Cutlass Capital, a venture capital firm. Before joining Group Outcome, Mr. Larkin served as Chairman and CEO of Eunoe Inc., which developed a device for slowing and preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Before that, he was President and CEO of Nellcor Puritan Bennett, Inc., one of the world’s leading respiratory product manufacturers. Mr. Larkin also held positions of increasing responsibility at Bentley Laboratories/American Hospital Supply from 1976 to 1983.  He is a member of the board of directors of Heartware, Inc., a medical device firm that develops implant devices to treat severe heart failure. Mr. Larkin obtained his B.S. in Industrial Management from LaSalle University.

Opinion: It’s challenging to muster enthusiasm beyond a mere bounce. Larkin, a seasoned director, has made his largest purchase to date, as far as records show.

Name: Michael Andrew Chambers
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-08-16 Shares Bought: 37,038 Average Price Paid: $133.80 Cost: $4,955,728
Company: Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (SRPT)

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., founded in 1980, is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the discovery and development of RNA-targeted medicines, gene therapies, and other genetic therapy modalities to treat rare diseases. They offer EXONDYS 51 injection to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in patients with a confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 51 skipping; VYONDYS 53 for the treatment of Duchenne in patients with a confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 53 skipping; AMONDYS 45 for the treatment of Duchenne in patients with a confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene; and ELEVIDYS, an adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy for the company is also working on SRP-5051, a peptide conjugated PMO that binds to exon 51 of dystrophin pre-mRNA, as well as SRP-9003, a gene therapy program for limb-girdle muscular dystrophies. The company has collaboration and licensing agreements with F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Genevant Sciences, the University of Florida, Dyno Therapeutics, Hansa Biopharma, Duke University, Genethon, and StrideBio.

Michael Chambers was elected to the board in June 2022. Mr. Chambers co-founded Aldevron, headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1998 and served as its CEO for more than 20 years until becoming Executive Chairman of the Board until 2021, when Aldevron was acquired by Danaher Corporation. As founder, Mr. Chambers directed Aldevron’s expansion into a world-class service company focusing in nucleic acid and protein manufacturing, antibody research, and custom services, with operations in the United States and Europe. He now serves on the Board of Directors of Calviri, Inc. Mr. Chambers was selected on Goldman Sachs’ “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” list in 2018. He received a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology, microbiology, and chemistry from North Dakota State University.

Opinion: Huge buy and the stock reacted rather mildly up just 5%. That’s a pretty typical size bounce so I’d tread carefully around this name.

Name: Martin J. Vanderploeg
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-08-16 Shares Bought: 4,000 Average Price Paid: $78.91 Cost: $315,640
Company: Workiva Inc (WK)

Workiva, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Ames, Iowa. Workiva Inc., and its subsidiaries, provide cloud-based reporting solutions in the United States and worldwide. The company offers the Workiva platform, a multi-tenant cloud software with data linking capabilities, audit trail services, administrator access management, and the ability to connect data from multiple enterprise resource planning, human capital management, and customer relationship management systems, as well as other third-party cloud and on-premise applications. The company serves public and private corporations, government agencies, and higher education institutions.

Martin J. Vanderploeg, a co-founder of Workiva, has served as its Non-Executive Chair since 2023. He served as President from 2014 to 2022, Chief Operating Officer from 2008 to 2018, and CEO from 2018 to 2023. until joining Workiva, Mr. Vanderploeg was the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Engineering Animations Inc., which he helped operate for a decade until selling to Unigraphics Solutions, which is now a division of Siemens USA. He started his academic career as a tenured mechanical engineering professor at Iowa State University, where he founded and oversaw the Simulation and Visualization Lab. Marty is both a technological entrepreneur and a well-recognized instructor. He spent over a decade as a tenured mechanical engineering professor at Iowa State University, where he also founded and led the Iowa State Visualization Laboratory. Marty received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University.

Opinion: I’m trying to find a reason to buy this stock as this is two purchases back-to-back, each 4000 shares. It’s unusual for founder to buy considering they are likely loaded to the gills already.  

Name: Bernard Jr Lanigan
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2024-08-20 Shares Bought: 75,000 Average Price Paid: $26.74 Cost: $2,005,500
Company: CNX Resources Corp (CNX)

CNX Resources Corporation was founded in 1860 and has its headquarters in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. CNX Resources Corporation is an independent natural gas and midstream business focused on the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin. The company operates in two segments: shale and coalbed methane (CBM). It generates and sells pipeline-quality natural gas, principally to gas wholesalers. The corporation has the rights to extract natural gas from shale properties in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, as well as additional shale and shallow oil and gas deposits in Illinois, Indiana, New York, and Virginia. In addition, the company designs builds, and operates natural gas gathering systems that transport gas from the wellhead to interstate pipelines or other local sales points; it owns and operates approximately 2,600 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, as well as various natural gas processing plants. It also provides turnkey solutions for water sourcing, delivery, and disposal for its natural gas operations and third-party customers.

Bernard Lanigan, Jr. joined the CNX board in May 2016. Mr. Lanigan currently chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the ESCR and NCG committees. He co-founded Southeast Asset Advisors, Inc., an investment advisor and wealth management firm, and has served as its Chairman and CEO since 1991. He also co-founded Lanigan & Associates, P.C., a certified public accounting and consulting firm, and has been its Chairman since 1974. He also serves on the boards of non-public enterprises, endowments, and private organizations. Mr. Lanigan previously served on the boards of directors at Texas Industries, Inc., Rayonier, Inc., and Ruby Tuesday, Inc. Mr. Lanigan joins our Board with over four decades of expertise leading big, complex, and varied enterprises. He is a certified public accountant with over 40 years of experience in financial, tax, accounting, investment advising, capital allocation, strategic consulting, risk assessment, valuations, and mergers and acquisitions, having served as both an advisor and principal in a variety of industries, including energy.

Opinion: Natural gas is hovering around multi year lows. The export market for LNG could take off if Trump is elected. 

Name: Andrew Kenner
Position: SVP, Olefin Material & Corp Pr
Transaction Date: 2023-08-09 Shares Bought: 12,000 Average Price Paid: $22.99 Cost: $275,868
Transaction Date: 2023-08-12 Shares Bought: 2,692 Average Price Paid: $22.63 Cost: $60,915
Company: Westlake Chemical Partners LP (WLKP)

Westlake Chemical Partners LP was created in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas. Westlake Chemical Partners LP acquires, develops, and operates ethylene manufacturing facilities and other assets in the United States. The company’s ethylene-producing plants mostly convert ethane to ethylene. It also sells ethylene co-products, such as propylene, crude butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline, and hydrogen, to other parties on a spot or contract basis. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the company’s general partner.

Andrew Kenner is currently the Senior Vice President of Material & Corporate Procurement at Westlake Chemical Partners LP. From 2005 until 2008, he served as Vice President and General Management at Valero Energy Corp. He was Vice President of Manufacturing at Westlake Corp from 2008 to 2017. Mr. Kenner has more than 20 years of expertise in engineering, operations, and manufacturing, most recently serving as Vice President and General Manager of Valero Energy Corporation’s Delaware City Refinery. He ran similar businesses in Houston and Texas City, Texas. Mr. Kenner earned his undergraduate degree at Texas A&M University and his master’s degree at The University of Texas at Austin.

Opinion: U.S. based ethylene plants have a structural advantage with ample supplies of cheap domestic natural gas, the major input material.

Name: Eric M Demarco
Position: President & CEO
Transaction Date: 2024-08-21 Shares Bought: 11,980 Average Price Paid: $20.89 Cost: $250,242
Company: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. (KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. is a technology company that services the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates in two segments: Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company provides ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic systems. The company’s primary customers include national security agencies, the United States Department of Defense, intelligence and classified agencies, international governments, and commercial businesses.

Eric M. DeMarco is the President and CEO of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Mr. DeMarco joined the Company as President and Chief Operating Officer in November 2003, while it was still known as Wireless Facilities, Inc., a provider of commercial wireless communications system infrastructure, and was named CEO in April 2004. Before joining Kratos, Mr. DeMarco was President and Chief Operating Officer of Titan Corporation, which was later acquired by L-3. Before Titan, Mr. DeMarco worked in public accounting for several large multinational corporations and publicly traded enterprises. Mr. DeMarco previously served as Chairman of the Board of Wavestream Corporation was a director of nLIGHT, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Finance, summa cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire.

Opinion: Definitely unusual to see Demarco buying not once but twice this month. The stock responded as expected, up 10%. Autonomous hive AI drones are a huge opportunity, but serious competitors are now stalking this. The Ukraine war has spotlighted drone warfare. Kratos might get a nice chunk of change out of this, but they need to move quick in an industry that doesn’t.

Name: William Z Wyatt
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2024-08-15 Shares Bought: 20,000 Average Price Paid: $14.71 Cost: $294,200
Company: Turtle Beach Corp (HEAR)

Turtle Beach Corporation was created in 1975, and its headquarters are in White Plains, New York. Turtle Beach Corporation is an audio technology firm operating in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Turtle Beach develops, commercializes, and markets gaming headset solutions for a wide range of platforms, including video game and entertainment consoles, handheld consoles, personal computers, tablets, and mobile devices. The company also sells gaming headsets, keyboards, mouse, and other personal computer peripherals under the ROCCAT brand. It also offers game controllers, gaming flight simulation and racing simulation accessories, and USB and analog microphones for gamers, streamers, professionals, and students. The company services both retailers and wholesalers. 

William Zachre Wyatt has been working as an Independent Director at Turtle Beach Corp since 2023. He formed The Donerail Group LP in 2019 and currently serves as Managing Partner. He formerly served as the Consumer Retail Sector Head for Magnetar Financial LLC. He also worked as an Associate at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC between 2006 and 2010. Mr. Wyatt earned his undergraduate degree from Tulane University (Louisiana) in 2006.

Opinion: 

Name: David Golub
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2024-08-16 Shares Bought: 40,000 Average Price Paid: $14.69 Cost: $587,600
Company: Golub Capital Bdc Inc. (GBDC)

Name: Lawrence E Golub
Position: Chairman
Transaction Date: 2024-08-16 Shares Bought: 40,000 Average Price Paid: $14.69 Cost: $587,600
Company: Golub Capital Bdc Inc. (GBDC)

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. is a business development company that functions as an externally managed closed-end non-diversified management investment vehicle. The company invests in middle-market enterprises through debt and minority stock, which are usually supported by private equity investors. It typically invests in a wide range of consumer services, including vehicles, healthcare technology, insurance, healthcare equipment and supplies, hotels, restaurants, entertainment, healthcare providers and services, IT services, and specialized retail. The corporation plans to invest in the United States. The company’s primary investments include first-lien traditional senior debt, first-lien one-stop, junior debt, equity, senior secured, one-stop, unitranche, second-lien, subordinated, and mezzanine loans made by middle-market firms, as well as warrants.

Mr. Golub is the Chief Executive Officer of Golub Capital BDC. He is also the President of Golub Capital and a member of the Investment Committee of the investment adviser, GC Advisors LLC. Before joining Golub Capital in 2003, Mr. Golub was a Managing Director at Centre Partners, a premier middle-market private equity company. Mr. Golub is a member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research’s Founders Council, where he served as the first chairman and director for many years. Mr. Golub is a member of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. In addition, he belongs to the Association of Marshall Scholars’ Director’s Circle. Mr. Golub serves on the board of directors for Burton Snowboards and has previously served on the boards of other public and private firms. Mr. Golub received his AB degree magna cum laude in Government from Harvard College. He earned an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Golub has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since November 2009. He is also the CEO of Golub Capital and a member of GC Advisors LLC’s Investment Committee. Mr. Golub now serves on the Stanford Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Council as well as the Stanford Impact Labs Advisory Board. Previously, Mr. Golub was the Managing Director of Bankers Trust Company. Before that, he was a Managing Director at Wasserstein Perella, where he built the firm’s capital markets and debt restructuring expertise. Mr. Golub’s career began with Allen & Company Incorporated, where he worked in private equity, leveraged finance, and mergers and acquisitions. For more than twelve years, Mr. Golub served as a private member of the State of New York’s Financial Control Board. He was the Chairman of Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a non-profit that develops and manages low-income housing in the Bronx. Mr. Golub received his AB degree magna cum laude in economics from Harvard College. He obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Opinion: Interest rates coming down should help some of the portfolio companies that Golub has loans with and make the near 12% yield look a little more enticing.

 

Name: Mark Lappe
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 2024-08-20 Shares Bought: 40,000 Average Price Paid: $12.96 Cost: $518,282
Company: Inhibrx Biosciences Inc. (INBX)

Inhibrx Biosciences, Inc., founded in 2024, is headquartered in La Jolla, California. The firm is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops biological therapies for people with life-threatening diseases. Its therapeutic candidates include INBRX-109, a tetravalent therapeutic candidate targeting death-receptor 5 that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic conventional chondrosarcoma; and INBRX-106, a hexavalent sdAb-based therapeutic candidate targeting OX4 that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic solid tumor, non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, head and neck cancer, gastric (GIST) and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA) cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and urothelial (transitional) cell carcinoma.

Mr. Lappe co-founded Inhibrx in 2010 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since its start. He is also the Chairman of our Board of Directors. Mr. Lappe has over 30 years of experience in senior management, investment management, and executive recruiting, having formed executive teams for over 40 start-up biotechnology and medical device firms. Mr. Lappe was the founder and Managing Partner of Efficacy Biotech Fund, a fund that focused on strategic investments in publicly traded biotechnology businesses, before creating Inhibrx.

Opinion: This is the third insider buy since INBX did the deal with Sanofi for $1.7 billion. This looks remarkably similar to the Pfizer Biohaven deal which has proven to be remarkably profitable for the management team and shareholder that invested in Biohaven after the deal.   

Name: Arkoma Drilling L.P. / Williston Drilling L.P. / Blue Star Exploration Corp / Jerral W. Jones
Position: 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2024-08-16 Shares Bought: 573,453 Average Price Paid: $10.64 Cost: $6,101,253
Transaction Date: 2024-08-20 Shares Bought: 3,132,600 Average Price Paid: $10.99 Cost: $34,440,327
Company: Comstock Resources Inc (CRK)

Comstock Resources, Inc. was founded in 1919 and is based in Frisco, Texas. Comstock Resources, Inc., a subsidiary of Arkoma Drilling, L.P., is an independent energy company that acquires, explores, develops, and produces natural gas and oil properties in the United States. The company’s resources are found in the Haynesville and Bossier shales in north Louisiana and east Texas.

Arkoma Drilling is wholly-owned by Dallas businessman and owner of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club Ltd., Jerry Jones.

Williston Drilling is owned by Dallas businessman and owner of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club Ltd., Jerry Jones, and his family.

Blue Star Exploration Ghana Limited is an independent Ghanaian oil and gas exploration and production firm. Blue Star aims to be an African independent oil and gas exploration firm that focuses on frontier exploration acreage and brownfield assets. The company aims to actively add assets to its portfolio, particularly in the West African region, while also looking into other aspects of the oil and gas value chain. The Blue Star approach is built around three pillars, including the employment of talented workers and local partnerships to create value in the oil and gas exploration and production industries.

Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. is an American businessman who owns, controls and manages the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League.  Jerral W. Jones is the current President and Director of Blue Star Exploration Co., having previously served as President and General Manager of Dallas Cowboys Football Club Ltd. since 2012. Mr. Jones obtained his master’s degree from the University of Arkansas.

Opinion:

Name: Sven-Olof Lindblad
Position: CEO
Transaction Date: 2024-08-21 Shares Bought: 32,117 Average Price Paid: $7.95 Cost: $255,288
Company: Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. (LIND)

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. was created in 1979 and is based in New York, NY. Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. offers marine expedition adventures and tourism experiences globally. It works through the Lindblad and Land Experiences segments. Lindblad segment provides ship-based expeditions aboard customized, nimble, and intimately-scaled vessels, which offer up-close experiences in the planet’s wild and remote places, and capitals of culture; and offers expedition ships, which are equipped with state-of-the-art tools for in-depth exploration with infrastructure and ports, such as Antarctica and the Arctic, and places that accessed by a ship comprising Galápagos Islands, Alaska, Baja California’s Sea of Cortez. The Land Experiences segment includes natural habitats, which offers over 100 different expedition itineraries in more than 45 countries across seven continents, with eco-conscious and nature-focused expeditions, as well as small-group tours such as polar bear tours and bear adventure; and DuVine, which provides intimate group cycling and adventure tours around the world with local cycling experts as guides in local culture, cuisine, and accommodations.

Sven-Olof Lindblad created Lindblad Expeditions, Inc. in 1979. His father, adventure-travel pioneer Lars-Eric Lindblad, led some of the first non-scientific groups of travelers to Antarctica in 1966 and the Galapagos in 1967. Lindblad had been the Chief Executive Officer of Lindblad Expeditions since its inception in 1979, before leaving the position. In 2021, he became Co-Chair of the Company’s Board of Directors, a position Lindblad will continue to hold. Lindblad, as CEO and Co-Chair, will work closely with the Board and leadership team to advance the Company’s business strategy and growth potential. Since joining Lindblad Expeditions in 2021, Berle has overseen the successful return to service of the company’s expedition cruises and adventure travel experience operations around the world. During this period, the firm also purchased Classic Journeys, a premium cultural walking tour firm that offers a portfolio of customized tours centered on cinematic walks led by skilled local guides, increasing its land-based expedition options.

Opinion:

Name: Liberty 77 Capital L.P. / Liberty 77 Fund International L.P. / STM Partners LLC / Steven T Mnuchin
Position: 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2024-08-14 Shares Bought: 562,733 Average Price Paid: $7.56 Cost: $4,255,331
Company: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF-B)

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was created in 1986, and its headquarters are in Santa Monica, California. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. operates in the film, television, subscription, and location-based entertainment industries in the United States, Canada, and across the world. The corporation is structured into three business units: film, television production, and media networks. The Motion Picture division develops and produces feature films, acquires North American and global distribution rights, distributes North American feature films to theaters, home entertainment, and television, and licenses global distribution rights. Television Production creates, produces, and distributes series, films, miniseries, and nonfiction programs worldwide. Media Networks distributes STARZ-branded premium subscription video services both domestically and internationally through over-the-top platforms and video programming distributors like cable operators, satellite TV providers, and telecommunications companies.

Liberty 77 Capital L.P. (also known as Liberty Strategic Capital) is a private equity firm. The organization mostly invests in technological companies. Liberty Strategic Capital services clients across Washington. The firm, created in 2021, is led by former Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

Liberty 77 Fund International LP engages in the Financial Services sector. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

STM Partners LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, exercises indirect control over the Liberty Manager and the Liberty Funds’ general partner. Steven T. Mnuchin is the President of STM Partners LLC.

Steven T. Mnuchin is Liberty Strategic Capital’s founder and managing partner, as well as the chair of the Investment Committee. Mr. Mnuchin formerly served as the 77th Secretary of the Treasury, holding the position from February 2017 to January 2021. Mr. Mnuchin oversaw the US Treasury’s efforts to preserve a strong economy, encourage economic growth, and generate job opportunities by creating conditions conducive to success both at home and abroad. Mr. Mnuchin also oversaw cybersecurity for the financial services industry and all Treasury divisions, including the IRS. Before being confirmed, he created, chaired, and directed Dune Capital Management. He formed OneWest Bank Group LLC and served as its Chairman and CEO until it was sold to CIT Group Inc. Secretary Mnuchin previously worked for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., where he was a Partner and Chief Information Officer, responsible for the firm’s global information and technology strategy and operations. Secretary Mnuchin received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.

Opinion:

Name: James T Treace
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2023-08-15 Shares Bought: 84,000 Average Price Paid: $5.96 Cost: $501,035
Company: Treace Medical Concepts Inc. (TMCI)

Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. is a medical device firm based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and was founded in 2014. Treace Medical Concepts Inc. is a medical technology business dedicated to improving the standard of care for surgically treating bunions and other midfoot deformities. The company created and patented the Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction System®, a set of instruments, implants, and surgical techniques that surgically correct all three planes of the bunion deformity while also addressing the underlying cause, allowing patients to resume their active lifestyles. To better serve the needs of bunion patients, the company created the Adductoplasty® Midfoot Correction System, which allows for reproducible surgical correction of the midfoot, as well as the Hammertoe PEEK Fixation System, which treats hammertoe, claw toe, and mallet toe anomalies.

James T. Treace has served as chairman of the board of directors for Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. since June 2014. Mr. Treace founded J&A Group LLC in 2000, where he has worked as Manager since 2014, and TreBay Medical Corp. in 1993, where he served as Chairman, President, and CEO until 1996. Mr. Treace previously served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Xomed Surgical Products, Inc. from 1996 to 1999, President and CEO of Linvatec Corp. from 1981 to 1990, President and CEO of ConMed Linvatec, Inc. from 1981 to 1990 at Medtronic Spine LLC, Chairman from 2001 to 2007, Chairman of Wright Medical Group, Inc. from 1999 to 2008, and Chairman of Kyphon, Inc. from 2002 to 2007.

Opinion:

Name: Charles K. Cohn
Position: Chief Executive Officer / 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 2024-08-19 Shares Bought: 2,170,291 Average Price Paid: $1.03 Cost: $2,235,400
Transaction Date: 2024-08-16 Shares Bought: 10,993,192 Average Price Paid: $0.89 Cost: $9,733,805
Company: Nerdy Inc. (NRDY)

Nerdy, Inc. was created in 2007 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company runs a platform for live online learning. The company’s purpose-built proprietary platform uses technology, including artificial intelligence, to connect students, users, parents, guardians, and buyers of all ages with tutors, instructors, subject matter experts, educators, and other professionals, delivering value on both sides of the network. Its learning destination offers learning experiences in a variety of subjects and formats, such as one-on-one instruction, small group tutoring, big format classes, tutor chat, essay reviews, adaptive assessment, and self-study tools. Varsity Tutors, the company’s primary business, provides live online tutoring and classes via its platforms. Its solutions are provided both directly to learners and through educational systems.

Chuck Cohn is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Nerdy, the parent business of Varsity Tutors. Chuck launched the company in 2007 after being frustrated in his junior year of college trying to find the individualized guidance he needed for a calculus course. He began his career in energy and power investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities, then moved on to healthcare private equity with Ascension Ventures, a $800 million AUM fund. Chuck bootstrapped Nerdy before leaving his private equity position to focus on building it full-time at the end of 2011. Chuck lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife and three children. He is on the boards of Washington University’s Entrepreneurship Program and the Danforth Plant Science Center’s Leadership Council. Chuck earned a BSBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Washington University in St. Louis.

Opinion:

Name: Richard Carucci
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 2024-08-22 Shares Bought: 15,000 Average Price Paid: $16.70 Cost: $250,500
Company: V F Corp (VFC)

V.F. Corporation was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. V.F. Corporation and its subsidiaries create, source, market, and distribute branded lifestyle clothing, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and children throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. It is divided into three segments: outdoor, active, and work. The North Face, Timberland, Smartwool, Icebreaker, and Altra brands provide high-performance outdoor apparel, footwear, equipment, and accessories; outdoor, adventure-inspired lifestyle footwear, apparel, and accessories; performance merino wool and other natural fiber-based apparel and accessories; performance-based footwear; and high-performance apparel and accessories made from natural fibers. The company also sells youth culture/action sports-inspired and streetwear apparel, footwear, and accessories; handbags, luggage, backpacks, totes, and accessories; outdoor-inspired apparel, footwear, and accessories; and backpacks and luggage under the Vans, Supreme, Kipling, Napapijri, Eastpak, and JanSport labels.

Mr. Carucci has been Chair of the Board since June 2023. He was the President of Yum! Brands, Inc., a global operator of quick service restaurants, from 2012 until his resignation in 2014. He joined Yum! Brands (then Tricon Global Restaurants) in 1997 and performed various finance, international, and general management responsibilities before being appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2005. Mr. Carucci formerly served as a director of Kontoor Brands, Inc. from May 2019 to April 2021.

Opinion:

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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 with any stock market experience 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 of 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, we analyze unusual patterns with selling, 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, are horrendously poor. Also, planned sales that 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 on which we are trying to read the tea leaves. I say generally because some 10% shareholders are great investors. Think Warren  Buffett 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.

A big callout to my assistant Ambreen who sets up this conversation by listing the notable buys that I’ve identified.  She probes the 10k for a reasonable description of the business. I’ve found that to be the most accurate and succinct place to find out what a business actually does.

This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement.  Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor.  There are also many parts that I am not willing to share if I think it could influence trading action or be detrimental to the Fund’s partners. We could be long, short, or have no position at all in any of the stocks mentioned and express no written or implied obligation to disclose any of that.

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.

You can be an insider, too– by clicking here

Prosperous Trading,