Are The Insiders Of These Struggling Companies On To Something As They Buy Up Shares?

Proceeding ahead, Lloyd Miller III, a large shareholder of  penny stock Learning Tree International, Inc. (OTCMKTS:LTRE), acquired 17,000 shares of the company on September 9 at a weighted average price of $0.93 per share and now indirectly owns over 1.37 million shares. Learning Tree International, Inc. (OTCMKTS:LTRE) has had a consistent downward journey over the past five years, losing 90% of its market cap, and is down by 44.5% this year alone. Due to those steep declines, the shares of the company were delisted from the NASDAQ on July 22 and started trading under the same symbol on OTCQX US Market. With a purchase of 11,974 shares, Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group was the only hedge fund among those we track that initiated a stake in the company during the April-June period.

Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM) was another stock that witnessed buying from multiple insiders on September 9. Said Ouissal, who serves as the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations at the company, bought 10,000 shares at a weighted average price of $1.48. Likewise, David B Walrod, an Independent Director of the company acquired 35,000 shares at a weighted average price of $1.49, and Georges Antoun, another Independent Director of the company, purchased 66,000 shares at a weighted average price of $1.48. Following these transactions, Mr. Ouissal now owns 71,663 shares directly, Mr. Walrod owns 173,420 shares directly and 169,883 shares indirectly, and Mr. Antoun owns 98,000 shares of Violin Memory. Just like the other two companies discussed previously, shares of Violin Memory Inc (NYSE:VMEM) have also fallen significantly in 2015, trading down by 68% year-to-date. On August 28, analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated their ‘Hold’ rating on the stock, while lowering their price target to $2.25 from $3. Billionaire David E. Shaw‘s firm D.E. Shaw reduced its stake in the company by 80% during the April-June period to a paltry 23,683 shares.

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