Influential Insiders at Well-Known Freight Trucking Company and Ultratech Inc. (UTEK) Discard Shares, Plus Insider Buying at Other Companies

New Board Member of Expanding Bank Holding Company Initiates Stake

A newly-appointed member of First Midwest Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBI)’s Board initiated a stake this past week. Kathryn J. Hayley, appointed to the company’s Board of Directors in late-August, purchased a 16,000-share stake on Thursday at prices varying from $19.28 to $19.43 per share.

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBI) operates as the bank holding company of its principal operating subsidiary First Midwest Bank, a community bank that attracts deposits, makes loans and offers wealth management, investment, and retirement plan services. In late-June, the company agreed to acquire Standard Bancshares, the holding company for Standard Bank and Trust Company. The acquisition will offer First Midwest Bancorp 35 banking offices located mainly in the southwest Chicago suburbs and adjacent markets in northwest Indiana. Under the terms of the agreement, Standard Bancshares’ shareholders are set to receive 0.4350 shares of First Midwest for each share of Standard. The acquisition is anticipated to close in late 2016 or early 2017. The shares of First Midwest are 4% in the green in 2016. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies was the owner of 416,200 shares of First Midwest Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBI) at the end of the second quarter.

Board Member of Well-Known Discount Brokerage Buys More Shares

A new member of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD)’s Board of Directors increased his ownership stake last week. Brian Michael Levitt, who joined the company’s Board in early-October, snatched up 5,000 shares on Wednesday at prices that fell between the range of $33.85 and $33.94 per share. Following this acquisition, Mr. Levitt currently owns an aggregate of 6,509 shares.

The insider buying comes a few days after TM Ameritrade, one of the biggest discount brokerages in the United States, agreed to buy smaller rival Scottrade, famous within the investment community for charging only $7 per online trade. The purchase price of $2.7 billion comprises $1.7 billion in cash and $1 billion in new shares. As TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD)’s acquisition of Scottrade combines two of the nation’s big-five brokerages, the authorities in the United States are likely to allocate a great deal of attention on the acquisition. The $2.7 billion-deal will result in a combined business with approximately 10 million client accounts and $1 trillion in assets, which will execute around 600,000 trades per day. TD Ameritrade’s shares are down by 1% this year. Akre Capital Management, founded by Charles Akre, had 2.97 million shares of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD) in its portfolio at the end of June.

The final page of this article will discuss the fresh insider selling observed at two other companies.