Several Insiders at Enterprise Financial Services Corp (EFSC) Offload Shares Before Earnings Release, Plus Other Notable Insider Trading

Board Member of Mobile Content Provider Keeps Buying Shares

One member of Zedge Inc. (NYSEMKT:ZDGE)’s Board of Directors has been piling up shares consistently this January. Howard S. Jonas, the Vice Chairman of the company’s Board since mid-November 2016, purchased 8,098 Class B shares on Tuesday and 7,720 shares on Friday. In addition to the 7,720-share block, Mr. Jonas bought an additional 26,202 Class B shares last week. All the shares were purchased at prices that fell in the range of $3.16 and $3.23 per share. The Vice Chairman currently owns an aggregate of 237,906 Class B shares following the recent series of purchases.

Zedge Inc. (NYSEMKT:ZDGE) provides a content platform that enables users to personalize their mobile devices with free ringtones, wallpapers, home screen app icons and notification sounds. The mobile content provider has seen its shares drop by 30% since being spun-off by IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT) during the summer. Unlike many other phone customization providers, Zedge has been mostly advertising supported as a huge portion of its revenue comes from direct advertising in its app. The company’s revenues for the three months that ended October 31 decreased by 6.9% year-over-year to $2.38 million due to a 10.7% decrease in average revenue per monthly active user. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC had approximately 273,000 shares of Zedge Inc. (NYSEMKT:ZDGE) in its portfolio at the end of September.

Cluster of Insider Selling at Yadkin Financial Before Closure of Its All-Stock Merger with FNB

Let’s now switch our attention to the insider selling at Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN). To start with, Board member David S. Brody sold an aggregate of 11,860 shares last week, shares held in the 1999 David Brody Living Trust, via Brody Associates LLC or the Ethel S. Brody Irrevocable GST Trusts for each of his three children. Mr. Brody also holds a direct ownership stake of 9,525 shares. Lead independent director J. Adam Abram discarded 28,437 shares on Friday at a price tag of $34.16 per share, trimming his ownership stake to 404,007 shares. Last but not least, Board member Steven J. Lerner offloaded 15,000 shares on Friday at a price of $34.35 per share, of which 10,000 shares were held by Lerner Family Irrevocable Trust that currently owns 11,429 shares. Dr. Lerner owns 6,520 shares directly following the recent sales.

In July 2016, Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN) agreed to be acquired by diversified financial services company F.N.B. Corp (NYSE:FNB). As the shareholders of both companies approved the all-stock merger in December, it is no surprise that insiders at Yadkin have been selling shares as of late. Under the terms of the agreement, Yadkin shareholders are set to receive 2.16 shares of FNB common stock at closure. The all-stock transaction is anticipated to close during the first quarter of this year. Anton Schutz’s Mendon Capital Advisors reported owning 1.37 million shares of Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN) in the 13F filing for the September quarter.

The last page of the article discusses fresh insider selling witnessed at two other companies.