Benzinga - The Nasdaq closed higher by around 0.6% on Tuesday, also recording losses for the week. Investors, meanwhile, focused on some notable insider trades.
When insiders sell shares, it indicates their concern in the company’s prospects or that they view the stock as being overpriced. Either way, this signals an opportunity to go short on the stock. Insider sales should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a selling decision.
Below is a look at a few recent notable insider sales. For more, check out Benzinga's insider transactions platform.
PriceSmart
- The Trade: PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) Director Sherry Bahrambeygui sold a total of 10,000 shares at an average price of $72.28. The insider received around $722.82 thousand from selling those shares.
- What’s Happening: PriceSmart, last month, posted upbeat Q1 earnings.
- What PriceSmart Does: Pricesmart Inc is principally engaged in operating U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs that offer consumer goods at low prices.
Robinhood Markets
- The Trade: Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) Chief Creative Officer Baiju Bhatt sold a total of 86,806 shares at an average price of $9.98. The insider received around $866.6 thousand from selling those shares.
- What’s Happening: Robinhood reported fourth-quarter revenue of $380 million, which was up 5% sequentially.
- What Robinhood Markets Does: Robinhood Markets Inc is creating a modern financial services platform.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- The Trade: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) EVP, COO Stuart Arbuckle sold a total of 14,249 shares at an average price of $297.56. The insider received around $4.24 million from selling those shares.
- What’s Happening: Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported quarterly earnings of $3.76 cents per share which was above the analyst consensus estimate of $3.51.
- What Vertex Pharmaceuticals Does: Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a global biotechnology company that discovers and develops small-molecule drugs for the treatment of serious diseases.
Merck & Co
- The Trade: Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) EVP, Chief HR Officer Steven Mizell sold a total of 1,815 shares at an average price of $109.10. The insider received around $198.02 thousand from selling those shares.
- What’s Happening: Merck & Co’s Phase 3 NRG-GY018 trial evaluating Keytruda (pembrolizumab) combined with standard-of-care chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS).
- What Merck & Co Does: Merck makes pharmaceutical products to treat several conditions in a number of therapeutic areas, including cardiometabolic disease, cancer, and infections.