Top insider trades (Tue, Jul 28)

Connor’s Commentary

Yesterday, a reader asked a good question.

One of the stocks we added to the CEO Watcher Portfolio actually didn’t receive a high score on our Top Ranked Insider Purchases list (which premium subs can see at any time in the Google Sheet Dashboard).

Every insider trade is automatically scored by our system. The Top Ranked Purchases (and Sales) list then shows the purchases in the last 90 days with the highest scores.

Most of the time, the stocks added to the High Signal List or CEO Watcher Portfolio come from that Top Ranked Purchases list.

However, insider trades are very nuanced, and it is impossible to create a perfect scoring system.

In this case, the stock that was added to the portfolio had multiple insiders buying (cluster buy), is in a post-earnings dip, and one of the insiders flipped from selling to buying (reversal buy). This is a very good signal.

But the company is unprofitable, and historically, insider buying at unprofitable companies does not outperform the market on average. As a result, unprofitable companies will never receive a high score in our automated system.

I believe the insider buying (plus they have a new CEO who may have given a “kitchen sink” quarter) was compelling enough to overrule our automated scoring system.

Today’s Largest Unscheduled Trades

There were 79 new insider trades filed.

We found 1 insider purchase from an insider who averages 20%+ 1y returns.

CEO Watcher Premium subs can see those notes in later sections of this email.

Today’s largest unscheduled insider trades:

• Chief Executive Officer at 51Talk Online Education Group $COE purchased $17.86M (2nd largest purchase, out of 9). Dip Buy: the stock was down -38% in the previous 3 months. This insider has purchased the stock 6 times in the last 30 days. Part of a 10b5-1 plan.

• 10% Owner (DART KENNETH BRYAN) at Flutter Entertainment plc $FLUT purchased $11.78M. Dip Buy: the stock was down -66% in the previous year. This insider has purchased the stock 4 times in the last 30 days.

• 10% Owner (Aqua Capital, Ltd.) at ENERGIZER HOLDINGS, INC. $ENR purchased $2.47M (largest purchase ever, out of 16). This insider has purchased the stock 7 times in the last 30 days.

• EVP & Chief Financial Officer at Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB purchased $89.98K (largest purchase ever, out of 4).

• Director (Strong Gary) at Oak Valley Bancorp $OVLY purchased $65.00K (largest purchase ever, out of 15). This increased their listed holdings by 15%.

• Director (Conway Michael Aaron) at MCCORMICK & CO INC $MKC purchased $55.23K (largest purchase ever, out of 2). Reversal: they made 2 straight sales before this purchase.

• 10% Owner (SRB CORP) at SAFETY INSURANCE GROUP INC $SAFT sold $4.00M (largest sale ever, out of 9). Rip Sell: the stock was up 37% in the previous month. This insider has sold the stock 4 times in the last 30 days.

• Director (WALLMAN RICHARD F) at ROPER TECHNOLOGIES INC $ROP sold $2.32M (largest sale ever, out of 47). This decreased their listed holdings by -46%. Their last sale was 368 days ago. 1 other insider also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Chief Technology Officer at WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECHNOLOGIES CORP $WAB sold $2.12M (largest sale ever, out of 4). This decreased their listed holdings by -27%. Rip Sell: the stock was up 12% in the previous month. Their last sale was 424 days ago. 2 other insiders also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Chief Financial Officer at HANCOCK WHITNEY CORP $HWC sold $1.73M. This decreased their listed holdings by -33%.

• 10% Owner (GV 2019 GP, L.L.C.) at Ethos Technologies Inc. $LIFE sold $1.65M (6th largest sale, out of 20). This insider has sold the stock 4 times in the last 30 days.

• VP & Chief Accounting Officer at CSX CORP $CSX sold $1.60M (largest sale ever, out of 3). This decreased their listed holdings by -60%. Rip Sell: the stock was up 11% in the previous month. Their last sale was 1735 days ago. 1 other insider also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Director (GOLDMAN NEAL P) at Weatherford International plc $WFRD sold $1.36M (2nd largest sale, out of 3). This decreased their listed holdings by -56%. Reversal: they made 1 straight purchases before this sale. Their last sale was 895 days ago. 1 other insider also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• CVP, Chief Accounting Officer at MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC $MU sold $879.00K (2nd largest sale, out of 7). Rip Sell: the stock was up 71% in the previous 3 months. 3 other insiders also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• General Counsel at SCHWAB CHARLES CORP $SCHW sold $709.34K (8th largest sale, out of 19). This decreased their listed holdings by -89%. Rip Sell: the stock was up 12% in the previous month. 3 other insiders also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Director (Duster Benjamin) at Weatherford International plc $WFRD sold $516.54K (2nd largest sale, out of 3). This decreased their listed holdings by -34%. Their last sale was 895 days ago. 1 other insider also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Director (Brown Maryam S.) at STIFEL FINANCIAL CORP $SF sold $372.23K (first-ever sale). This decreased their listed holdings by -45%.

• Pres., Global Freight Services at WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECHNOLOGIES CORP $WAB sold $300.64K (2nd largest sale, out of 3). Rip Sell: the stock was up 12% in the previous month. 2 other insiders also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• Director (Harmon Cyrus) at Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $OLMA sold $291.16K (12th largest sale, out of 28). Rip Sell: the stock was up 154% in the previous year.

• CEO at Edwards Lifesciences Corp $EW sold $245.13K (13th largest sale, out of 14). 1 other insider also sold the stock in the last 30 days.

• EVP & Chief Wealth Officer at FIRST UNITED CORP/MD/ $FUNC sold $218.40K (first-ever sale). This decreased their listed holdings by -32%.

• Controller at TEXAS CAPITAL BANCSHARES INC/TX $TCBI sold $204.56K (first-ever sale). This decreased their listed holdings by -21%.

• and more…

The rest of this email is for premium subscribers only.

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