5 Noteworthy Insider Transactions Filed on Friday Amid Slowing Insider Trading Activity

U.S. equities rallied on Friday as the Labor Department revealed that U.S employers added 287,000 jobs in June, a big turnaround from the weak reports released for April and May, showing that the U.S economy has not run out of steam just yet. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is approximately 200 points below its all-time high reached in May 2015, so one may anticipate insider selling to accelerate in the foreseeable future. After all, corporate insiders usually follow the pattern of ‘buying low and selling high’.

Last week’s dollar volume of insider buying slightly declined relative to the previous week, whereas the dollar value of insider selling more than halved week-over-week. The insider selling-to-buying ratio stood at 9.7-to-1 for the past week, which means that insiders sold almost ten shares for each share bought. Investors should keep in mind that corporate insiders, namely executives and Board members, know more about their companies than anyone else, which is why insider trading metrics should be closely monitored on a daily basis. With this in mind, the following article will discuss a series of noteworthy insider purchases and sales reported with the SEC on Friday.

Academic research has shown that certain insider purchases historically outperformed the market by an average of seven percentage points per year. This effect is more pronounced in small-cap stocks. Another exception is the small-cap stock picks of hedge funds. Our research has shown that imitating the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds outperformed the market by nearly a percentage point per month between 1999 and 2012 (read more details here).

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Boutique Operator Registers More Insider Buying

The insider buying activity at Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) has been gaining steam lately as the shares of the specialty retailer, which operates a nationwide-chain of boutiques, are down by 31% year-to-date. Laurie Hummel, Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer, filed Friday to disclose the purchase of 7,000 shares for $10.97 each, which boosted her overall holding to 34,332 shares. The purchase was conducted on June 30.

Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN)’s stock performance has been weighed down by the resignation of Michael W. Barnes from his positions as Chairman, President and CEO of the company in mid-May, after running the company for less than two years. Immediately after the announcement of the resignation, Jefferies analysts downgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ and cut their price target on it to $11 from $22, saying that Mr. Barnes’ departure was disappointing. Mariko Gordon’s Daruma Asset Management was the owner of 2.93 million shares of Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) at the end of March.

The CEO of This Low-Priced Biotechnology Company Keeps Buying Shares

After purchasing an aggregate of 171,000 shares in late June and early July, the man in charge of Hemispherx BioPharma Inc. (NYSEMKT:HEB) purchased an additional 48,000 shares on Friday at roughly $0.12 apiece. After the recent purchase, President and CEO Thomas K. Equels currently holds a stake of 1.70 million shares.

The specialty pharmaceutical company’s flagship products include Alferon N Injection, a genital warts treatment, as well as the experimental therapeutic called Ampligen. Just recently, the Philadelphia-based Hemispherx BioPharma Inc. (NYSEMKT:HEB) obtained the intellectual property rights for the two products, which were held by former CEO Dr. William A. Carter, which adds assurances that he will not make future intellectual property claims. This means the biotechnology company can fully focus on its strategy to seek licensing deals or development partnerships with other biopharmaceutical firms, to advance the development of the two products without facing the possibility of investors or potential co-development partners raising concerns. Hemispherx shares are up by 48% thus far in 2016. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies had 1.85 million shares of Hemispherx BioPharma Inc. (NYSEMKT:HEB) in its portfolio on March 31.

The second page of this insider trading article will discuss the fresh insider selling registered at three companies.

Medical-Device Company Registers Insider Selling Shortly After Acquisition Announcement

Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) has seen two executives unload shares this month, with one of them selling freshly-exercised stock options, which we don’t cover. The other trade involved Carol A. Surface, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President, who sold 9,787 shares on Wednesday at prices between $87.01 and $87.19 per share. Following the recent sale, Ms. Surface currently owns 59,784 shares.

The medical-device company has seen the value of its shares gain 14% since the beginning of 2016. In late June, Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) inked an agreement to acquire HeartWare International Inc. (NASDAQ:HTWR) for $1.1 billion, a deal that will add more heart-treatment products to the medical-device maker’s existing portfolio. The acquirer will pay $58 per HeartWare share in cash, a 93% premium over the stock’s closing price before the announcement. The freshly-acquired company develops the HVAD heart pump, a mechanical pump implanted in individuals suffering from advanced heart failure. Adage Capital Management, run by Phillip Gross and Robert Atchinson, reported ownership of 1.99 million shares of Medtronic PLC (NYSE:MDT) in its latest 13F.

Leading Business Process Services Company Registers Insider Selling Ahead of M&A Announcement

SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX) has witnessed increased insider selling as of late, though most selling was related to freshly-exercised stock options. However, Peter Larocque, President of North American Technology Solutions, discarded 7,000 shares on Friday at prices that fell between $93.84 and $94.65 per share, cutting his ownership to 18,241 shares. Mr. Larocque also sold 996 freshly-vested stock options a few days earlier.

Earlier today, the business process services company announced that it had agreed to acquire global outsourcing business solutions company Minacs for $420 million. The company will be integrated into the target’s Concentrix business segment, which provides a range of strategic services and solutions to enhance clients’ customer life cycles and to acquire, support and renew customer relationships, among other things. The transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2016. SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX) has seen the value of its stock appreciate by 6% so far in 2016. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management owns nearly 306,000 shares of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE:SNX) as of the end of the first quarter.

The Selling Spree by This Engineering Consulting Firm’s CEO Continues

Exponent Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO)’s President and CEO, Paul R. Johnston, keeps selling shares, which should not go unnoticed. Mr. Johnston sold 5,578 shares on Friday at a price tag of $58.15 each, cutting his ownership to 64,458 shares.

The shares of the engineering and scientific consulting firm are currently trading near their 52-week high of $59.05, after having advanced by 17% year-to-date. Just recently, analysts at Avondale Partners started coverage on Exponent Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) with a ‘Market Perform’ rating and a price target of $60, which implies an upside of less than 2%. The company pays shareholders a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share, which equates to an annual dividend yield of 1.22%. The engineering consulting firm enjoyed strong demand for its consulting services during the first quarter of 2016, with its first-quarter bottom line increasing to $15.35 million from $10.33 million reported for the same period of the prior year. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, owned 504,334 shares of Exponent Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPO) on March 31.

Disclosure: None