High-Profile Tech Executives Set the Pace for Insider Stock Selling This Week

We screen the lists of insider selling each week at 24/7 Wall Street, and look for the high-profile names that some of our readers may own in their portfolios. While insider selling is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when stocks are at all-time highs, it make sense to follow what top employees are doing.

Here are the top insider sells for this week.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) posted out-of-this-world earnings this week, and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the company took advantage of the stock trading near all-time highs. Sheryl Sandberg sold 283,334 shares at prices between $69.16 and $69.73. The sale netted Sandberg, who is one of the wealthiest women in America, some $19,676,000. Facebook moved even higher after earnings were reported, and shares were trading at Friday’s close at $75.19.

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LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) has been a favorite Internet stock of the momentum crowd. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, Jeff Weiner, sold 110,794 shares of the stock at $175.16. The total gross proceeds amounted to a very nice $19,406,832. Shares were trading at week’s end at $177.44.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) saw some selling from the man whose name is on the door. The founder of the discount brokerage powerhouse, Charles Schwab, sold a whopping 720,000 shares at prices listed between $27.55 and $27.73. The sell brought home almost $20 million. This was posted as a sale and an option exercise. Shares of the stock traded at $27.50 at Friday’s close.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) saw the CEO and a senior vice president of the company selling stock this week. The pair sold a total of 213,000 shares of the railroad between $30.90 and $31.02 for a total of almost $6.6 million. The stock closed Friday at $31.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) is another high-profile transport sector stock that saw some heavy insider selling this week. The chief operating officer (COO) of the company sold 37,724 shares of the stock at $77.66. The sale brought in close to $2 million. Shares ended Friday at $79.23.

Rex American Resources Corp. (NYSE: REX) saw its CEO sell stock for the third week running. Stuart Rose parted with 30,000 more shares at $88.05 for a total gross amount near $2.6 million. The stock traded as low as $83.62 on Friday. So a well-timed sale to say the least.

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Clearly some of these well-known, high-profile executives were thinning what is probably still a very large herd, and that is certainly to be expected with the stock market at record highs.