Clusters of Insider Buying at Synergy Resources Corp (SYRG), EVINE Live Inc. (EVLV); Three Other Stocks With Significant Insider Trading

Cluster of Insider Buying at Independent Oil and Natural Gas Company

Three different corporate insiders at Synergy Resources Corp (NYSEMKT:SYRG) purchased shares this week. To begin with, Michael J. Eberhard, Chief Operating Officer of Operations, bought 15,000 shares on Tuesday at a weighted average cost of $6.11 per share, a purchase that boosted his ownership to 93,763 shares. General Counsel Cathleen M. Osborn disclosed on Thursday the purchase of 2,000 shares at a cost of $6.01 per share, which lifted her holding to 81,300 shares. Last but not least, James P. Henderson, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance, snapped up 50,000 units of common stock on Tuesday at prices varying from $5.93 to $5.98 per unit. After the recent purchase, Mr. Henderson currently holds an ownership stake of 179,605 shares.

The growth-oriented independent oil and natural gas company has seen its market capitalization plunge by 21% since the start of the year. Synergy Resources Corp (NYSEMKT:SYRG)’s drilling and completion activities are focused in the Wattenberg Field, an area covering the western flank of the liquids-rich D-J Basin. In early August, analysts at BMO Capital Markets downgraded Synergy Resources to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ and trimmed their price target to $6 from $8, saying that they “expect the company to emphasize liquidity preservation over drilling activity increases” due to weakening commodity prices. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management acquired a new stake of 2.78 million shares of Synergy Resources Corp (NYSEMKT:SYRG) during the April-to-June quarter.

Cluster of Insider Buying at Beleaguered Clinical-Stage Vaccine Company

Soon after a member of Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)’s boardroom purchased a sizeable stake of shares earlier this week, three other corporate insiders stepped up and bought shares as well. Board member Richard Douglas bought 100,000 shares on Wednesday at prices ranging from $1.71 to $1.73 per share, boosting his overall holding to 350,000 shares. Michael A. McManus Jr., yet another member of the company’s boardroom, acquired 30,000 shares on the same day for $1.61 each, an acquisition that lifted his ownership to 247,590 shares.  Gregory M. Glenn, President of Research and Development, acquired 1,000 shares at $1.65 apiece, increasing his stake to 3,427 shares.

Given that this massive cluster of insider buying comes after the clinical-stage vaccine company reveled disappointing results from a late-stage clinical trial for a vaccine for a respiratory virus known as RSV-F, the recent spike in insider buying shows insiders’ confidence in the future prospects of its lead product candidate. Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)’s shares plunged by around 80% on the release of dismal trial data, but the stock has gained 45% in the past five trading days. The company plans to release a more detailed analysis at its investor meeting that is set to take place on October 11, where investors might get a clear understanding of the company’s next steps for developing an RSV vaccine. Baker Bros. Advisors, founded by Julian and Felix Baker, owns 2.38 million shares of Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) as of the end of the second quarter.

The final page of this article will discuss several other notable insider transactions reported with the SEC on Thursday.