Heavy Insider Selling Detected at These 3 Companies: Cause For Concern?

FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR) is another company that witnessed a massive insider sale last week. Director Earl R. Lewis sold 50,000 shares on Thursday at a price of $30.13 per share and currently holds 693,078 shares, which include dividends on vested restricted stock units. His spouse also holds an ownership stake of 186,832 shares. There are several aspects that point to the fact that the Director might have cashed out the aforementioned block of shares too early. First, the innovator and supplier of thermal imaging technology has a trailing P/E ratio of 17.69, which is noticeably below the average for the S&P 500. Second, FLIR Systems recently has acquired video surveillance developer DVTEL Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at $92 million, which will complement the company’s current solutions and offering with new security and hardware. Third, the company completed a realignment plan that involved closing six sites and transferring those operations to larger facilities, and also consolidated its optics and laser manufacturing businesses in recent years. Hence, FLIR Systems seems to be well-positioned to generate both top- and bottom-line growth in the upcoming quarters. Meanwhile, the company received more attention from the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey during the third quarter, as the number of smart money investors with positions in the company climbed to 26 from 20 quarter-over-quarter. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, holds a stake of 1.72 million shares in FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR) as of September 30.

Last but not least, Parkway Properties Inc. (NYSE:PKY) had two top executives sell stock last week. To begin with, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David R. O’Reilly unloaded 80,000 shares on Wednesday at a weighted average sale price of $16.79. After the recent sizable sell-off, the CFO currently owns 103,559 shares. Moreover, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer M. Jayson Lipsey sold 16,500 shares on the same day at prices between $16.69 and $16.75 per share, cutting his stake to 89,368 shares. The self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on the acquisition and management of office and parking properties has seen its stock lose 10% so far in 2015, so it is not entirely clear what might have propelled these executives to cash out. The company holds a portfolio of 38 office and parking properties located in six states as of October 1. The REIT’s top-line figure is highly correlated with the overall occupancy rate of its office buildings, which declined in the third quarter relative to the same period last year. The occupancy of Parkway’s office portfolio on October 1 totaled 90.0%, compared with 90.4% reported on July 1 and 89.1% on October 1, 2014. A mere seven smart money investors from our database had positions in the REIT at the end of the third quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management significantly increased its exposure to Parkway Properties Inc. (NYSE:PKY) during the third quarter, holding 1.39 million shares as of September 30.

Disclosure: none