Founder of Largest U.S. Homebuilder Sells Shares Amid Signs of Housing Recovery & Other Noteworthy Insider Trading

CEO of Biopharmaceutical Company Buys Shares Amid Poor Post-Split Share Price Performance

The man in charge of Neuralstem Inc. (NASDAQ:CUR), who has shown his confidence in the company through a series of purchases in late 2016, keeps buying shares. President and CEO Richard J. Daly snapped up 2,841 shares on Wednesday at $3.52 apiece, a purchase that boosted his holding to 13,221 shares.

Although the CEO owned 134,939 shares according to his latest Form 4 filing in late 2016, the recent stock split at a ratio of 1-for-13 reduced that amount. The biopharmaceutical company focused on developing central nervous system therapies based in its proprietary neural stem cell technology completed the stock split to regain compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price condition and fulfil all listing requirements of NASDAQ. The company’s patented technology facilitates the production of various types of central nervous system stem cells, developed for the treatment of central nervous system diseases and conditions. Since Neuralstem’s share price has performed quite poorly post-split, the CEO’s purchase may ease some worries in the market around the long-term potential of the company. Hal Mintz’s Sabby Capital had 2.79 million “old” shares (or 214,441 shares post-split) of Neuralstem Inc. (NASDAQ:CUR) at the end of the third quarter.

Mini-Cluster of Insider Buying at Small Financial Institution Farmers Capital Bank

Two influential corporate insiders at Farmers Capital Bank Corp (NASDAQ:FFKT) bought shares last week. To start with, President and CEO Lloyd C. Hillard Jr. snatched up 2,000 shares on Friday at a price of $35.13 each, lifting his overall holding to 18,311 shares. The CEO’s holding includes 8,238 shares held in an IRA. R. Terry Bennett, Independent Chairman of the Board since early May 2012, purchased 1,000 units of common stock on the same day for $35.65 each. Mr. Bennett currently owns a total of 14,643 shares following the Friday transaction.

The insider buying discussed above comes after a drop in Farmers Capital Bank Corp (NASDAQ:FFKT)’s share price in mid-January due to disappointing fourth-quarter results. In early August, the company announced plans to consolidate its four bank subsidiaries into one company, with the merged bank said to be named United Bank & Capital Trust Company. While the merger was originally expected to be completed in January 2017, the consolidation is now expected to close on February 20. Should President Donald Trump push for regulatory reforms to spur additional economic growth and subsequently have Dodd-Frank, which was signed into law in July 2010 to help avoiding a financial crisis like the one experienced in 2008, under microscope, Farmers Capital Bank Corp and its soon-to-be-merged subsidiaries could benefit from decreased regulation, higher economic growth and rising interest rates. Renaissance Technologies LLC reported ownership of 256,500 shares of Farmers Capital Bank Corp (NASDAQ:FFKT) in its 13F filing for the September quarter.

The final page of this article will focus on discussing some massive insider selling witnessed at two other companies.