Ex-CEO of TD Ameritrade Sells Shares, Co-Founder of Chipmaker Offloads Shares, Plus Insider Buying at Other Companies

Co-Founder of Soon-to-Be-Acquired Chipmaker Offloads Shares

One of the most well-informed insiders at Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) offloaded a great deal of shares last week. Executive Chairman of the Board Robert H. Swanson Jr., who co-founded the company in 1981, discarded 38,529 shares on Friday, 6,541 shares on Thursday and 25,000 shares on Wednesday at prices ranging from $62.85 to $63.01 per share. These shares were held in a trust that currently owns 200,476 Linear Technology shares. Mr. Swanson also holds a direct ownership stake of 210,172 shares.

The aforementioned insider selling would not normally be considered an information-rich insider trade, despite the massive size of the sales. Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) agreed to sell itself to fellow chipmaker Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI) in late-July of 2016 for around $14.8 billion. Under the terms of the agreement reached last summer, the shareholders of Linear Technology are entitled to $46 per share in cash and 0.2321 shares of Analog Devices at closing. Linear Technology recently released its financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal 2017, the final report before the deal closes. The chipmaker had been considered a very attractive acquisition target in the semiconductor industry before the acquisition announcement due to its high margins and engineering talent. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies was the equity holder of 8.71 million shares of Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) at the end of September.

Ex-CEO of TD Ameritrade Sells Shares Amid Post-Election Jump in Trading Volume

The former Chief Executive Officer of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD) discarded a sizable block of shares last week. Joseph H. Moglia, current Chairman of the Board at TD Ameritrade, liquidated 20,000 shares on Thursday at prices varying between $47.00 and $47.01 per share, cutting his ownership to 200,000 shares.

Discount brokerages, including TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD), are definitely hoping that President Donald Trump will keep tweeting after taking office. In the weeks after Donald Trump’s election, discount brokerages have enjoyed a spike in trading activity among their clients (due to increased uncertainty, volatility and “hope”), pushing commission revenue higher at a time when brokerages were struggling to raise trading fees. For instance, TD Ameritrade, a leading provider of securities brokerage services and related technology-based financial services to retail investors and traders, reported that daily average revenue trades jumped to 514,000 in the days after the election, up from 451,000 before. The post-election rise in trading volume continued into January as well. TD Ameritrade’s shares have gained 68% in the past year. Edgar Wachenheim’s Greenhaven Associates reported owning 6,840 shares of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD) in its 13F filing for the December quarter.

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