Founder of Battered Rent-to-Own Company Buys Shares After Activist Criticism, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Trading

Executives at Apple Keep Selling Shares as Optimism About Anniversary iPhone Grows

A number of high-ranked executives at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been trimming their equity stakes in recent weeks, a normal occurrence considering the company’s strong stock performance. Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, offloaded 70,627 shares on Thursday at a price tag of $135.30 each. Mr. Federighi, who oversees the development of iOS, macOS and Apple’s common operating system engineering teams, owns 439,855 shares after the sale.

The shares of the iPhone maker have enjoyed a stellar performance in 2017, with the shares having gained 17% year-to-date. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares are trading near their 52-week high of $136.27, which would command some diversification on the part of long-serving employees. Growing optimism about the company’s 10^th anniversary iPhone appears to have propelled Apple shares to record highs, but many have questioned the sustainability of the $130-per-share level. Some are worried that Apple’s largest overseas market – China – has become somewhat saturated. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 42.13 million shares during the fourth quarter to 57.36 million shares.

Significant Cluster of Insider Selling at Lear Corporation

A number of executives at Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) have been unloading shares recently, so let’s have a look at a few transactions. To start with, Jeffrey H. Vanneste, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, sold 16,734 shares on Wednesday, 5,454 shares on Thursday and 5,603 shares on Friday at prices varying between $139.87 to $143.70 per share, cutting his ownership to a mere 7,472 shares. President and CEO Matthew J. Simoncini liquidated 58,993 shares on Wednesday, 19,229 shares on Thursday and 18,758 shares on Friday at prices between $139.87 and $143.70 per share, as well as offered 1,000 shares as a gift. Mr. Simoncini currently owns an aggregate of 27,151 shares following these transactions. Raymond E. Scott, Executive Vice President and President of Seating, sold 17,353 shares on Wednesday, 5,655 shares on Thursday and 5,812 shares on Friday at prices that ranged from $139.87 to $143.70 per share. Mr. Scott owns 14,133 shares after last week’s transactions.

The leading Tier 1 supplier to the global automotive industry has seen the value of its shares advance by 37% in the past 12 months. Earlier this month, Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) agreed to acquire Grupo Antolin’s automotive seating business for €286 million ($304 million) in cash. This business is comprised of just-in-time seat assembly, seat structures and mechanisms and seat trim. Grupo Antolin’s automotive seating business is headquartered in France and has operations concentrated in five European countries. Lear’s Board of Directors recently upped the quarterly cash dividend to $0.50 per share from $0.30 per share, with the upped dividend yielding around 1.40% annually. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC reported owning approximately 754,000 shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) through the latest round of 13Fs.

Disclosure: None