Insider Trades: 10 ASX 200 directors bought and sold these stocks last week

Welcome back to the Insider Trades series – a weekly summary of on-market ASX 200 director transactions valued at more than $10,000. The below trades have all taken place between 11 and 17 September. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.

Each week post reporting season there has been fewer transactions that meet our threshold. The 10 insider trades this week are nearly half the week prior. Directors sold roughly $4.14 million against $677,000 of buying and resources companies dominate both sides. Perenti, BHP, Rio Tinto and Northern Star accounted for about three quarters of the buying by value, and both sells came from gold producers.

Perenti draws the week's largest buy

Non-executive director Vincent Nicoletti made his first purchase of Perenti stock since joining the company in May this year. He bought $272,500 of Perenti stock on 11 September at $2.18, which was the largest single director purchase of the week.

Perenti shares fell 0.4% after reporting its results on 24 August, and dropped a further 3.6% the day after. The stock has continued its slide now down 10% since reporting its earnings, and down 20% year-to-date.

FY26 result vs Macquarie and estimates:

• Revenue down 0.8% to $3,463m

• Underlying EBIT(A) up 2.0% to $340m vs ~$337m Macquarie (1% beat), flat against consensus

• EBIT(A) margin 9.8%, up 25bps

• Operating cash flow down 12.9% to $444m vs ~$522m Macquarie (15% miss) and ~$499m consensus (11% miss)

FY27 guidance vs estimates:

• Revenue $3.45–3.65bn, midpoint $3.55bn vs $3.61bn consensus (1.7% below) and $3.51bn Macquarie (1.1% above)

• EBIT(A) $335–355m, midpoint $345m vs $354m consensus (2.5% below) and $344m Macquarie (in line)

• Net capex circa $370m vs ~$360m consensus (2.8% above) and ~$325m Macquarie (13.8% above)

Despite the markets reaction since FY26 earnings, Macquarie was positive about the stock in a 8 September update. The investment bank retained an Outperform rating and $2.80 target, citing improving earnings quality and better margin resilience going forward as Perenti shifts exposure to lower-risk geographies, with the North American pipeline at record levels.

New director Mark Vassella makes two separate trades

Mark Vassella, the former BlueScope Steel chief executive who joined the BHP board as a non-executive director in June, picked up 2,675 shares on 11 September. He took 1,845 directly at $60.50 and 830 through the Vassella family trust at $60.51, a combined outlay of $161,846.

That's small change next to his BlueScope holding, roughly 1.13 million shares worth about $33.9 million at today's prices.

BHP delivered a strong FY26 driven by record iron ore output and copper becoming the largest earnings contributor, cutting net debt and boosting shareholder returns. It also lifts dividend to a four-year high.

Key FY26 numbers:

• Revenue up 15% to US$58.8bn vs US$57,961m ests (1% beat)

• Underlying EBITDA up 27% to US$32.9bn vs US$32,204m ests (2% beat), with copper contributing 54% at a 70% margin

• Fully franked final dividend of US 99 cps at a 72% payout, the largest in four years

• FY26 total dividend of US 172 cps vs. Morgans and Macquarie ests of 157.7 and 160 cps respectively (9% and 7.5% beat)

Iress director buys the dip

Michael Dwyer has been a non-executive director since February 2020. His recent buys were on consecutive days, $10,007 at $5.67 on 14 September and $18,198 at $5.68 on 15 September.

Both parcels went into MJD Advisory, taking that holding from 5,370 shares to 10,339. His direct holding is unchanged at 14,609, leaving him with 24,948 shares in total, a quarter more than before the trades.

Iress shares plummeted 11.6% when it reported its earnings on 17 August.

Iress lifted its first-half earnings but missed on revenue and profit. Cost discipline drove sharp margin expansion and a higher dividend, though headline figures came in below expectations.

• Continuing revenue up 2.5% in constant currency to $250.0m vs $257.5m ests (3% miss)

• Continuing Cash EBITDA up 47.1% in constant currency to $61.1m, unclear if comparable to $72.1m ests (15% miss)

• Statutory NPAT up 85.0% to $32.0m vs $36.7m ests (13% miss)

• Fully franked interim dividend of 14.0 cps, up 27.3%, vs 14.0 cps ests (in line)

The shares have continued to fall a further 18.9% since reporting its results. Roger Sharp bought $98,889 of Iress at $6.08 on 20 August, Dwyer has paid around 7% less.

Other ASX 200 insider buys

Northern Star returns for a second week with non-executive director Marnie Finlayson paying $22.08 apiece, below the $23.18 Jeff Quartermaine paid on 4 September. Nine Entertainment also appears again, with Christopher Halios-Lewis paying $0.82 against the $0.78 Leigh Terry paid on 10 September.

Top ASX 200 insider sells: gold keeps selling

Both sells came from gold producers, making it three consecutive weeks in which the sell side has been dominated by the sector. Alkane Resources' Nicholas Earner sold $3.89 million on 4 September, and Genesis Minerals executive chair Raleigh Finlayson sold $41.3 million on 2 September.

Regis Resources' Jim Beyer sold 481,480 shares between 14 and 17 September for $3.66 million, which the notice attributes to tax liabilities and personal financial requirements. The shares came from the Deckchair Trust, held with his wife, taking that holding from 1,207,234 shares to 725,754, a reduction of about 40%.