CEO of Brokerage and Investment Banking Firm Stifel (SF) Keeps Selling Shares, Plus 4 Other Noteworthy Insider Transactions

Board Member at Leading Permian Basin Producer Buys Shares

One member of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s Board of Directors snapped up a relatively large block of shares last week. William R. Klesse, Board member since October 2013, purchased 10,000 shares on Friday at prices that fell between $72.11 and $72.15 per share. After the transaction, Mr. Klesse currently owns an aggregate of 57,940 shares.

According to a fresh report by Forbes, Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI) plans to sell its oil and gas properties in the West Texas Permian Basin, with leading Permian Basin producer Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) believed to be one potential buyer of those properties. Kinder Morgan’s carbon dioxide-enhanced oil properties are mostly in the Sarcoc area and produce 56,000 barrels of oil per day. The possibility that Occidental Petroleum will be one of the potential buyers appears sound, especially considering the oil and gas company’s recently announced acquisition of 35,000 acres in West Texas for a cash consideration of $2 billion. There were a total of 40 hedge funds in our system with equity stakes in Occidental Petroleum at the end of the third quarter, compared to 38 recorded at the end of the June quarter. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management had 892,400 shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) in its portfolio on September 30.

Newly Appointed Director at Digimarc Buys Shares After Years of “Insider Buying” Silence

According to our insider trading database, no insiders at Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC) had purchased shares since late-2011, until last week. Gary DeStefano, elected to the company’s Board of Directors in October, purchased 3,705 shares on Friday and a much larger block of 21,000 shares on Monday at prices ranging from $27.25 to $28.67 per share. Mr. DeStefano currently holds an ownership stake of 30,505 shares.

Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC) is the inventor of the Digimarc Discover software and the imperceptible Digimarc Barcode, a unique data carrier repeated across the entire graphic design of a package that is nearly invisible to consumers. The company’s revenue for the first three quarters of 2016 decreased by 3% year-over-year to $16.6 million, mainly reflecting lower subscription revenue. Meanwhile, operating expenses for the same period jumped by 14% year-over-year to $26.2 million, reflecting higher investments in sales, marketing, research, development, and engineering, as the company attempts to gain market acceptance for its aforementioned products. Digimarc’s shares are 23% in the red thus far in 2016. George Soros’ Soros Fund Management initiated a 66,666-share stake in Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC) during the three-month period ended September 30.

The final page of this article discusses the fresh insider selling registered at two other companies.