Massive Insider Selling at Mellanox, Advance Auto Parts’ CEO Buys Shares, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Trading Moves

This Struggling BDC’s CEO Buys Shares

Joseph Bertrand Tansey, Chief Executive Officer of Garrison Capital Inc. (NASDAQ:GARS), snapped up 10,000 units of common stock on Tuesday at prices that ranged from $10.38 to $10.50 per share, lifting his direct ownership position to 77,996 shares. Mr. Tansey also holds an indirect ownership stake of 789,910 shares through Garrison Investment Group LP and other entities.

The shares of the business development company (BDC), which invests in first lien senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loans, “one-stop” senior secured or “unitranche” loans, and other instruments, are down by 17% since the start of the year. Garrison Capital Inc. (NASDAQ:GARS) held investments in 67 portfolio companies at the end of 2015. The BDC’s net investment income for the first three months of 2016 was $5.86 million, down from $7.68 million reported for the same period of the prior year. The decrease was mainly attributable to non-performing assets and lower investment balances. D.E. Shaw & Co. L.P., founded by David E. Shaw, owned 30,640 shares of Garrison Capital Inc. (NASDAQ:GARS) on March 31.

Strong-Performing REIT’s Top Executive Sells Shares

Dennis D. Oklak, Executive Chairman of Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) since April 2005, discarded 75,000 shares on Wednesday at $24.41 apiece, trimming his direct ownership stake to 305,444 shares. The stake includes 3,703 shares acquired earlier this year through dividend reinvestment.

The real estate investment trust (REIT), which owns or jointly controls 583 industrial and medical office properties as of the end of March, has seen its market cap rise by 17% since the beginning of the year. Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE)’s rental and related revenue from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2016 was $201.80 million, down from $214.62 million reported a year earlier, primarily due to the sale of 94 properties since January of 2015. The sales impacted the Indianapolis-based REIT’s top line by $22.5 million. Duke Realty bought two properties and placed 26 properties under development in service since January 2015, which added $6.3 million to its first-quarter top line. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors reported owning nearly 195,000 shares of Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) in its latest 13F filing.

Fabless Semiconductor Firm Registers Cluster of Insider Selling

Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX) registered a cluster of insider selling this week, which involved three different insiders. To start with, Board member Shai Cohen, who co-founded Mellanox Technologies, discarded 25,000 ordinary shares on Wednesday at prices of between $50.00 and $50.38 per share, trimming his ownership to 176,982 shares. Michael Kagan, yet another co-founder of Mellanox and Chief Technology Officer since January 2009, sold 2,000 shares on Tuesday and 1,000 shares on Wednesday at prices ranging between $50.00 and $50.31 per share. After the recent sales, Mr. Kagan holds a stake of 174,143 shares. Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Marc Sultzbaugh, sold 5,000 shares on Monday at $49.05 apiece, cutting his holding to 73,937 shares.

The stock of the fabless semiconductor company has appreciated by 15% thus far in 2016. Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX)’s shares tumbled in mid-April due to worries over slower-than-anticipated sales growth, as well as disappointing tech industry earnings. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies had 1.04 million shares of Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX) in its portfolio at the end of March.

Disclosure: None