Like all investors, insiders who own stock in their company are not immune to the panic that sets in when markets enter freefall. But unlike ordinary investors, they have an unofficial duty to show confidence and restraint at times of peak distress.
This might help to explain why we have seen fewer director sales in the past fortnight. Bucking this trend is Waqas Samad, the director of information services and chief executive of FTSE Russell, the index provider subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). On 4 March, amid a short-lived rally in UK equities, Mr Samad sold 20,890 shares in the FTSE 100 giant, banking £1.65m in the process.
From a day trader’s perspective, he appears to have got his timing bang on. Since Mr Samad cashed in some of his chips, shares in the bourse are down 9 per cent at £71.74.
It might be tempting to second guess the reasons for the disposal, particularly with the LSE’s purchase of financial data group Refinitiv yet to pass Europe’s regulators. But as we have argued for some months, shares in the LSE are priced for perfection; when Mr Samad sold his at £79, the stock was trading on 36 times consensus earnings for 2020.
Plus, judging by others’ disclosures, this clearly isn’t LSE insiders’ house view. In the same week, non-executive directors Marshall Bailey and Val Rahmani both bought in at a price between £76.38 and £79.27.
Buys | ||||||
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
International Cons Airlines | Antonio Vazquez Romero | 03 Mar 20 | 84,000 | 465 | 390,600 | Original price €5.344 |
International Cons Airlines | Francisco Javier Ferran Larraz | 03 Mar 20 | 144,000 | 454 | 653,760 | Original price range €5.218-€5.229 |
Elementis | Ralph Hewins | 04 Mar 20 | 15,034 | 99.77 | 14,999 | |
Hammerson | Adam Metz | 04 Mar 20 | 20,000 | 199 | 39,800 | |
London Stock Exchange | Val Rahmani | 04 Mar 20 | 1,129 | 7,927.28 | 89,499 | |
Electrocomponents | Simon Pryce | 05 Mar 20 | 10,000 | 611.8 | 61,180 | |
CLS Holdings | Andrew Kirkman (cfo) | 05 Mar 20 | 50,000 | 269.63 | 134,815 | |
Tyman | Paul Withers | 05 Mar 20 | 25,000 | 253.95 | 63,488 | |
Vodafone | Margherita Della Valle (cfo) | 05 Mar 20 | 71,246 | 139.38 | 99,303 | |
Vodafone | Joakim Reiter | 05 Mar 20 | 71,246 | 139.38 | 99,303 | |
Devro | Steve Good (ch) | 06 Mar 20 | 30,000 | 161.6 | 48,480 | |
Sage | Steve Hare (ce) | 06 Mar 20 | 5,000 | 672.2 | 33,610 | Residual holding 362,419 shares |
Reckitt Benckiser | Harold van den Broek | 06 Mar 20 | 80,000 | 6,000 | 480,000 | |
Coats | David Gosnell | 06 Mar 20 | 173,410 | 57.37 | 99,491 | |
Plus500 | Omar Elazari | 06 Mar 20 | 70,000 | 9.427 | 659,890 | |
Melrose Industries | David Roper | 06 Mar 20 | 541,570 | 183 | 991,999 | |
Melrose Industries | Simon Peckham (ceo) | 09 Mar 20 | 147,652 | 169 | 249,999 | |
Melrose Industries | Justin Dowley (ch) | 09 Mar 20 | 145,000 | 170 | 246,500 | |
International Cons Airlines | Francisco Javier Ferran Larraz | 09 Mar 20 | 85,900 | 4.09 | 351,693 | Original price €4.6763 |
Domino's Pizza | Ian Bull | 10 Mar 20 | 75,000 | 306.5 | 76,625 |
Sells | ||||||
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
London Stock Exchange | Waqas Samad (PDMR) | 04 Mar 20 | 20,890 | 7,899.75 | 1,650,258 |