Investing

Insider Selling at Multiyear Low as Market Roller Coaster Takes Wild Ride

It just makes sense that if you were an insider looking to unload stock, last week would be probably the worst one in the past five years to do it. The Dow opening the week with a gigantic 1,000-point plunge on Monday set the tone for the insiders, and sales were few and far between.

We cover insider selling every week at 24/7 Wall St., and we like to remind our readers that just because an individual or 10% institutional owner sells stock, that is no cause for immediate alarm. Many top executives, and even directors, are compensated with stock, and may sell just to diversify or to purchase other assets.

Here are companies that reported insider selling this past week.

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) had a huge seller hit the bid last week. The executive chairman of the firm parted with 1,123,655 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $26.79 to $27.53. The total for this massive sale came to $30.6 million. Shares of the media giant were changing hands at $27.92 as the week’s trading came to a close.

2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU) shows up on our screens again this week. A director sat the company sold 344,672 shares of the stock at prices that fell between $34 and $35.10. The total for the sale came to $11.8 million. The company provides cloud-based software-as-a-service solutions for nonprofit colleges and universities to deliver education to qualified students. The shares closed trading on Friday at $34.99.

ALSO READ: Insider Buying Surges During Sell-Off: Sprint, Sears, SolarCity and More

Marketo Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTO) also had a director shedding shares. That director sold a total of 150,000 shares at prices that ranged from $27.80 to $28.25 apiece. The total for the sale came to $4.2 million. The company provides cloud-based marketing software platform that enables organizations to engage in relationship marketing in the United States. Its Engagement Marketing Platform enables the execution, management and analytical measurement of online, social and offline marketing activities and customer interactions. The stock was trading at $28.34 on Friday’s close.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) saw its chief executive officer selling stock last week. Charif Souki gave up a block of 100,000 shares at prices that ranged from $56.09 to $62.29. The total for the sale came to $6 million. This energy company engages in the liquefied natural gas related business. Shares ended the week at $63.48.

Park City Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYG) had a director at the company part with shares this past week. The director sold a total of 163,441 shares at prices that ranged from $13.50 to $14.13. The total for the sale came to $2.2 million. The software-as-a-service provider designs, develops, markets and supports proprietary software products for the consumer goods supply chain. The stock ended trading on Friday at $12.10, so a very well-timed sale.

EMCOR Group Inc. (NYSE: EME) had a director at the company selling shares last week. That director parted ways with 46,928 shares of the stock at prices between $44.78 and $46.15 per share. The total for the sale came to $2.1 million. The company provides electrical and mechanical construction and facilities services to commercial, industrial, utility and institutional customers in the United States. Shares closed trading on Friday at $45.60.

ALSO READ: 5 Stocks Warren Buffett Likely Bought More of During the Sell-Off

These were the only reported insider selling trades that we saw all week. It truly is the lowest count that has hit our screens in years. This is another bullish sign because insiders will not sell into weakness, which means ultimately they think their stock and the market will go higher.

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