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Auto Trader finance chief hits the brakes

Sean Glithero has sold down another portion of his stake in the online car marketplace
December 8, 2016

Having already sold down a portion of his stake at the start of the year, Auto Trader (AUTO) finance chief Sean Glithero has offloaded more of the company's stock. This time Mr Glithero sold 600,000 shares to the tune of almost 399p apiece, netting himself close to £2.4m.

IC TIP: Hold at 395p

Auto Trader shares have largely gone sideways this year, down around 8 per cent over the past 12 months, although the share price - currently 395p - is still riding high compared with the float value of 235p. The recent lack of momentum reflects widespread fears about the UK car market in light of the Brexit vote and subsequent economic uncertainty.

Auto Trader has done its best to put these fears to rest, though. For the six months ended 25 September revenues grew by 11 per cent, helping deliver a 28 per cent surge in reported pre-tax profits.

Buys
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Advanced Oncotherapy Enrico Vanni28 Nov 1675,00064.748,525673,9460.930
Associated British Foods Charles Sinclair (ch)24 Nov 163,2402594.8784,07416,0000.002
Barratt Developments Jock Lennox24 Nov 1610,000472.3847,23810,0000.001
C4X Discovery Holdings Clive Dix (ceo)30 Nov 1640,0009738,8001,196,9363.200
Caledonia Mining Corp Leigh Wilson (ch)30 Nov 1650,00082.473941,237215,0000.408
Charles Taylor Edward Creasy (ch)24 Nov 169,80025524,99036,9300.055
Charles Taylor Paul Hewitt25 Nov 167842521,97619,5080.029
Charles Taylor Paul Hewitt25 Nov 1618,72425547,74618,7240.028
Computacenter Gregory Lock (ch)24 Nov 161,0857337,953587,4850.479
Computacenter Gregory Lock (ch)25 Nov 1612,515745.4993,298600,0000.489
Devro Gerard Hoetmer (ch)25 Nov 1620,00016032,000110,0000.066
Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure Trust Martin Nѐgre29 Nov 1643,511108.2547,1012,301,8822.506
GETECH  Peter Stephens28 Nov 16300,0002575,0001,395,5003.715
Hammerson David Tyler (ch)24 Nov 1620,000549.5109,90060,0000.008
Helical BarDuncan Walker24 Nov 161,778279.754,974333,4940.282
Helical BarDuncan Walker24 Nov 161,795277.164,975335,2890.284
Helical BarDuncan Walker24 Nov 161,817273.684,973337,1060.285
Helical BarDuncan Walker24 Nov 163,661271.759,949313,5090.265
Helical Bar♥Michael O'Donnell24 Nov 165,00028114,05067,0000.057
Helical BarGerald Kaye (ceo)24 Nov 1634,825287.1499,9971,082,5470.916
Helical Bar♥Matthew Bonning-Snook24 Nov 1617,350287.1449,819420,1590.356
Helical BarTim Murphy (fd)24 Nov 1634,825287.1499,997386,4250.327
Homeserve Chris Havemann24 Nov 168,17858347,67820,0000.006
Intu Properties♥ John Whittaker 28 Nov 1639,000269.089104,945336,758,13924.852
Johnson Matthey Anna Manz (fd)24 Nov 162,1843180.862269,4702,1840.001
Marston's Ralph Findlay (ceo)28 Nov 1618,675133.1324,8621,142,2640.190
Marston's Ralph Findlay (ceo)28 Nov 1618,727132.7624,8621,123,5890.186
Marston's Catherine Glickman25 Nov 1625,000132.805433,20150,0000.008
Mercantile Ports and Logistics♥* Lord Flight25 Nov 161,000,00010100,0001,000,0000.260
Mercantile Ports and Logistics* Pavandeep Bakhshi25 Nov 16500,0001050,000138,0000.036
Octagonal Martin Davison24 Nov 1650,00021,00019,065,0003.403
Octagonal Martin Davison25 Nov 161,000,0002.0520,50020,065,0003.582
Octagonal Martin Davison30 Nov 161,000,0002.2422,40021,065,0003.760
Shaftesbury Jonathan Nicholls (ch)29 Nov 16850912.467,75610,0000.004
Shaftesbury Jonathan Nicholls (ch)29 Nov 169,150915.0283,7249,1500.003
Speedy Hire Chris Morgan (fd)30 Nov 16117,7514350,633117,7510.022
Sula Iron & Gold* Howard Baker24 Nov 167,715,8760.2116,20314,507,5420.780
Sula Iron & Gold* Iain Macpherson24 Nov 1638,269,7480.2180,36638,269,7482.058
Sula Iron & Gold* Matt Wood (fd)24 Nov 1616,172,8480.2133,96317,668,4890.950
Sula Iron & Gold* Roger Murphy (ceo)24 Nov 1615,714,2860.2133,00015,714,2860.845
TalkTalk Telecom  Roger Taylor28 Nov 161,159,369155.78351,806,1064,313,1610.452
TalkTalk Telecom  Roger Taylor29 Nov 16840,631162.27251,364,1135,153,7920.540
VPC Specialty Lending Investments♥ Richard Levy29 Nov 1687,11270.8861,7451,120,1880.293

Sells
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Altitude  Martin Varley (ceo)29 Nov 16500,00079395,00012,547,55927.959
Auto Trader  Sean Glithero (fd)29 Nov 16600,000398.7492,392,4942,997,5810.304
BGEO  Archil Gachechiladze29 Nov 1612,0003000360,000136,2500.356
BGEO  Archil Gachechiladze29 Nov 1616,0002998479,680120,2500.314
BGEO  Avtandil Namicheishvili24 Nov 1610,0273075.16308,34648,1120.126
BGEO  Avtandil Namicheishvili25 Nov 1611,4863080.37353,81136,6260.096
BGEO  Avtandil Namicheishvili28 Nov 165,3313050162,59631,2950.082
BGEO  Nikoloz Gamkrelidze25 Nov 164,4003080135,52048,8500.128
BGEO  Nikoloz Gamkrelidze28 Nov 162,600305079,30046,2500.121
Gamma Communications Andrew Stone29 Nov 1621,000475.03199,7571,450,0001.580
Lindsell Train Investment Trust (The) Rory Landman24 Nov 161028650088,2303000.150
Lindsell Train Investment Trust (The) Rory Landman25 Nov 161008650086,5002000.100
Menzies (John)♥ Dermot Jenkinson25 Nov 1653,325520277,2901,870,3112.245
Menzies (John)♥ Dermot Jenkinson28 Nov 1622,416517.25115,9471,847,8952.218
Menzies (John)♥ Dermot Jenkinson28 Nov 1635,222519.2182,8731,812,6732.175
Schroder Japan Growth Fund Richard Greer24 Nov 1622,000177.539,0509,6890.008
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party