Tommy Tuberville, a Republican Senator from the state of Alabama, disclosed 19 new stock trades on April 15th, and one trade in particular is causing big movements in the underlying stock. Tuberville reported 3 trades in Humacyte (Nasdaq: HUMA). The stock is now up 18.5% the past five days, including a 15% gain today.
Let’s dive into the details of why this Congressional trade is turning heads.
Humacyte is a Biotechnology Company
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Humacyte is a pre-revenue company based out of Durham, North Carolina, developing bioengineered human tissue. While its technology is promising, the company is worth just $371.5 million as it’s a speculative biotechnology company.
What’s particularly interesting about Congressional trades is that they’re not subject to the same insider trading rules that apply to the rest of the country. If a Congressman is on a committee that may be privy to information that can help an industry, they can trade on that information.
Tuberville serves on the Armed Services Committee while Humacyte’s bioengineered human tissue has been tested on the frontlines in Ukraine (see here). This raises the possibility that Tuberville knows of funding that could benefit Humacyte.
The Details on Tuberville’s Recent Stock Purchases
Tuberville had a total of 19 trades reported on April 15. His buys included:
- Walgreen Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) for a total of $15K to $50 on March 21st.
- Paramount Global (Nasdaq: PARA) for $15 to $50 on March 21st.
- Two purchases of Rolls Royce Holdings that were both between $1K and $15K on March 21st
- Three Humacyte purchases on March 21st. Two of which were $1k to $15K and a third that was $15K to $50K
- And a purchase of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation that was $100K to $200K on March 12th
Tuberville’s purchase of Humacyte has caused the largest market reaction in part because of the company’s size. At the time Tuberville’s purchase was made public, the company was worth only around $300 million.
In addition, Tuberville’s potential insights from the Armed Services Committee make the purchase even more intriguing. Clinical-stage biotechnology stocks most often fail, but when they succeed they can offer spectacular returns.
Another stock to watch from Tuberville’s recent purchases may be the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Feddie Mac). Tuberville bought more of this stock (between $100,000 and $200,000) and its market capitalization is also quite small at about $800 million.
How Much Does Tommy Tuberville Trade?
Congressional trade watchdog Capitol Trades reports 1,041 trades from Tommy Tuberville, so he’s a frequent trader. His most frequently traded stock is Cleveland-Cliffs, which he has traded 41 times in 35 reporting periods.
The recent trades of Humacyte weren’t Tuberville’s first with the stock. He’s made 8 buys and one sell of it since March 2022.
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