Morgan Crucible CEO buys up 'cheap' stock

Mark Robertshaw, the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Crucible purchased 35,000 shares in the the FTSE 250 industrial materials group on the same day stock broker Jefferies hailed the stock as cheap, compared to its sector peers.

Robertshaw purchased the shares at 290.00p for a total of £101,500, increasing his stake in the company to just under 0.54m shares, equal to 0.19% of the issued share capital.

The broker said that, "any share price weakness today [Tuesday] should be considered a medium term buying opportunity".

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Jeffries' comments came as the company revealed it had stuck to its full year expectations despite a slower start to the year than it forecast.

The firm said revenue in the first four months of 2012 at reported rates was marginally below the comparable period last year.

Anticipated growth in the company's engineered materials division was hit by both a downturn in the solar market and the slowing of the Chinese economy.

The stock has fallen more than 13%, or 42p, in the past year, and it down 18%, or 60p, in the last week.

Top Director Buys

Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR)

Director name: Mr Mark Robertshaw

Amount purchased: 35,000 @ 290.00p

Value: £101,500

Witan Pacific Inv Trust (WPC)

Director name: Mr Alan Barber

Amount purchased: 24,000 @ 199.00p

Value: £47,760

Kofax (KFX)

Director name: Mr Joe Rose

Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 250.00p

Value: £25,000

Top Director Sells

Legal & General Group (LGEN)

Director name: Mr Tim J Breedon

Amount sold: 1,984,536 @ 111.33p

Value: £2,209,384

Barclays (BARC)

Director name: Mr Robert E Diamond Jr

Amount sold: 149,323 @ 205.76p

Value: £307,247

Barclays (BARC)

Director name: Mr Chris Lucas

Amount sold: 34,679 @ 205.76p

Value: £71,356

Legal & General Group (LGEN)

Director name: Mr Mark Gregory

Amount sold: 21,444 @ 111.33p

Value: £23,874

Witan Pacific Inv Trust (WPC)

Director name: Mr Alan Barber

Amount sold: 12,000 @ 195.38p

Value: £23,446

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