Insider Selling Mounts as Markets Hit All-Time Highs

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By Lee Jackson Published
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With the stock market on fire, Scotland apparently staying in the United Kingdom and, oh yeah, the biggest IPO ever, there was plenty of excitement going around this past week. One thing is for sure, regardless of what happens this coming week, it is almost sure to be a lot more tame than the fireworks on Wall Street this past week.

The sky-high markets drew out the insider sellers this week, and why not? As we have mentioned before, inside selling does not necessarily indicate problems at a company. Often executives are overweighted in their personal portfolios to company shares. Sometimes they sell because it can be tax or estate planning related.

At 24/7 Wall Street we keep a close watch on insider selling and report it weekly to our readers. Here is this week’s top insider selling.

Select Medical Holdings Corp. (NYSE: SEM) had a monster sell hit this week. A director at the company sold 1.4 million shares of the company’s stock at prices ranging from $13.40 to $13.45. The total sell amount was a huge $19.3 million. The timing looks good as shares spent most of Friday below $13.

Bank of the Ozarks Inc. (NASDAQ: OZRK) is a top regional bank that saw some big selling. A director parted with a huge 282,900 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $32.01 to $33.81, for a total sale amount of $9.2 million. Shares ended trading Friday at $34.86, so some money was indeed left on the table.

READ ALSO: Top Insider Buying This Week Features Familiar Faces

Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) owns very popular cable channels, and the stock has performed well, as acquisition rumors often float around the shares. A director at the company sold 200,000 shares at prices that ranged from $38.50 to $39.92. The total sale came to $7.8 million. The stock closed Friday at $40.50.

Total Systems Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) had yet another director sell stock. He sold 234,431 shares at price that ranged from $31.57 to $31.58, for a grand total of $7.4 million. The company entered into a strategic alliance recently with a leading provider of point of sale (POS) solutions for mobile devices, iMobile3, to use the company’s PassMarket platform. The company will employ the platform to process transactions through the new Apple Pay initiative. Shares ended the week at $31.79.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) is one of the top online trading and brokerage companies, but that didn’t stop the CEO and a company director from parting with shares. They sold a combined 225,000 shares at prices between $32.72 and $33.13, for a total sales amount of $7.3 million. The stock closed trading on Friday at $34.03.

READ ALSO: 10 Stocks Trading Under $10 With Huge Upside Potential

Other companies that saw significant insider selling this week included Measurement Specialties Inc. (NASDAQ: MEAS), Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT), TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) and Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE: PHX).

Photo of Lee Jackson
About the Author Lee Jackson →

Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad and diverse career, which included a stint as the creative services director at the NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry and world.

Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans over 30 years, with nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career was marked by his presence on the sell side during pivotal Wall Street events, from the dot.com rise and bubble to the Long Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This is a testament to his resilience and adaptability in the face of market volatility.

Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, acquired from a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing on various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies and workings of Wall Street in a way that only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.

Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.

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