These Companies Saw Interesting Insider Buying and Selling Activity

Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) registered one of the largest selling transactions yesterday, with director James F. Deutsch disclosing the sale of a total of 200,000 shares. The securities were sold in two deals at around $17.19 per share. However, the shares were held indirectly by Mr. Deutsch and the sales were executed by Patriot Financial Partners, L.P, which sold 170,540 shares of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL), while the other 29,460 shares were sold by Patriot Financial Partners Parallel, L.P.. Following the transactions, Patriot Financial Partners holds around 1.92 million shares of Sterling Bancorp and Patriot Financial Partners Parallel owns some 331,300 shares. Mr. Deutsch, who owns 500 shares of Sterling Bancorp directly, is also a managing partner at Patriot Financial Partners. The number of investors in our database that held shares of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE:STL) slid by three during the second quarter to nine, with them having amassed 5.30% of the company’s stock at the end of June.

Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman of Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE:JCI), Bruce R. McDonald, sold 98,166 shares of the company he owned directly at $44.95 per share on Tuesday. Following the transaction, Mr. McDonald doesn’t hold any shares, but owns Phantom Stock Units, particularly 78,990 units (economic equivalent of one common share) under the long-term incentive plan that will be settled 100% in cash upon his retirement, and 72,044 units under the restricted stock plan. In addition, Mr. McDonald has an indirect ownership stake of 17.95 million shares of Johnson Controls held by a 401(k) plan trustee. Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE:JCI)’s shares have advanced by 12% since the beginning of the year and currently have a dividend yield of 2.63%. The company’s popularity among the investors we track went up during the second quarter as 32 funds reported holding long positions as of the end of June, compared to 27 funds a quarter earlier.

On Friday, Monday and Tuesday, Ralph L. Schlosstein, CEO and President of Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR), executed three selling transactions, which included a total of 70,000 class A shares. The average sale price of the three transactions was $51.29 per share. Following the deals, Mr. Schlosstein owns directly 410,140 shares of Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR). According to the Form 4 filing, the shares that were sold “were previously pledged to secure a loan” and the proceeds from the sale were used to pay down the loan. Another 197,061 class A shares secure the remaining balance of the loan. Mr. Schlosstein also continues to own around 1.39 million partnership units in Evercore LP, including 463,822 units held in a trust for the benefit of the CEO’s family. Since the beginning of the year, the shares of the independent investment banking advisory firm have inched down by 5.75% and currently have a dividend yield of 2.43%. Among the investors we track, 19 funds held shares of Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) at the end of June, down from 21 funds three months earlier.

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