Cluster of Insider Buying at Struggling Bake-at-Home Pizza Chain, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Transactions

More Insider Selling at Linear Technology Ahead of Merger

Shortly after the man in charge of Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC), Lothar Maier, had offloaded 274,642 shares earlier this month, a number of insiders followed suit. To begin with, Erik M. Soule, Vice President of Signal Conditioning Products, discarded 15,810 shares on Wednesday at $62.30 apiece, cutting his holding to 110,326 shares. Donald P. Zerio, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance, sold 1,169 shares for $62.18 each on Tuesday and 957 shares at $62.30 apiece on Wednesday. After the recent sales, Mr. Zerio currently holds an aggregate of 76,215 shares.

As already mentioned in one of our previous insider trading articles, the recent spike in insider selling at Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) should not surprise the investment community. In late-July, Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) agreed to buy its fellow chipmaker Linear Technology for around $14.8 billion, so there aren’t any strong reasons the target’s executives would want to hold onto their ownership stakes any more. Under the terms of the agreement reached this summer, Linear Technology’s shareholders are set to receive $46 per share in cash and 0.2321 shares of Analog Devices should the deal go through. Magnetar Capital, run by Alex Litowitz and Ross Laser, initiated a 1.85 million-share position in Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) during the three-month period ended September 30.

CEO of Shopping Center REIT Sells Shares Ahead of Anticipated December Rate Hike

The man at the helm of Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) also unloaded a great deal of shares last week. Chairman and CEO John A. Kite sold 33,000 units of common stock on Tuesday at $24.35 apiece. After the recent sale, Mr. Kite currently holds an ownership stake of 86,001 units of common stock.

The vertically-integrated real estate investment trust focused on the development, ownership and operation of neighborhood and community shopping centers has seen the value of its shares fall by 6% since the start of the year. At the end of September, Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) owned interests in a portfolio of 121 operating, development and redevelopment properties, totaling around 24 million total square feet across 20 states. Earlier this month, the REIT’s Board of Trustees declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.3025 per share, which marked an increase of 5.2% relative to the most recently-paid dividend. There were nine hedge funds within our system invested in the shopping center REIT at the end of the third quarter, compared to 13 funds invested at the end of June. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors owned 174,280 shares of Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) at the end of September.

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