Director dealings w/e 5 August: what company insiders are buying and selling

Company directors usually know more about the businesses they work for than regular investors, which is why it can be a good idea to keep an eye on director share deals. In fact, you could argue directors know the state of their business better than anyone.

Therefore, an insider’s decision to buy or sell a security could be a notable development, although these transactions should never be taken as gospel.

There are many reasons why directors might want to buy and sell shares. Some are completely unrelated to business performance. For example, a director might have to sell stock to meet a divorce settlement. 

As it is illegal to trade on inside information, it is not likely a director will buy or sell a stock ahead of a major material announcement. However, a series of transactions by one or more directors can be a strong indication of insider sentiment. 

This list is not exhaustive. It excludes any deals with a value of less than £1,000, shares bought as part of a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP), and option exercises. These transactions should only be used as a starting point for further research. 

Director buys for the week ending 5 August 2022

*Acquired via a placing 

Alfa Financial Software’s (LSE: ALFA) non-executive director, Christopher Sullivan splashed out on the software company’s stock last week, spending over £200k to build his stake. The NED’s buying came just a few days after the firm reported that trading in the first half was inline with expectations and a growing number of subscriptions is helping drive top line growth. 

Steven Cooper, a non-executive director of Robert Walters (LSE: RWA) and Charlotte Ashley (spouse of fellow NED Matt Ashley) both increased their stakes in the recruiter after it published a robust set of figures for the first half of its financial year. With the market for talent showing no signs of slowing down, companies are paying big bucks to get new staff onboard and recruiters like Robert Walters are reaping the benefits. 

CEO of asset manager Premier Miton (LSE: PMI), Mike O'Shea added to his stake in the company to the tune of 14,700 shares last week. The CEO bought the holding across several transactions as shares in the company only trade a handful of times a day. 

Director sells for the week ending 5 August 2022

Playtech’s (LSE: PTEC) CFO and CEO both appear to have been selling their shares in the business last week, but these numbers don't tell the whole story. 

According to the company, both directors purchased shares in “accordance with the requirements of the company's remuneration policy, under which a proportion of the annual bonus is deferred into shares for two years.”

However, both directors then went on to sell a portion of their holdings to satisfy tax demands on the awards as well as other “family reasons.”

Source: https://www.youinvest.co.uk/markets/directorsdeals

See also:

Britain’s most-bought shares