Insider Trades: 14 director buys including a Geoff Wilson spree (and 3 sells)
ASX large-cap directors made 17 transactions of their own company's stock last week.
Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- Most significant transaction: Michelle Prater, non-executive director and Board member of Eagers Automotive, sold more than $36 million of stock
- Multiple stock buys: Directors at WAM Strategic Value, Macquarie Group, and Charter Hall all made multiple stock purchases
- Positive sentiment: Insiders appear to be bullish on the stocks of Eagers Automotive, WAM Strategic Value, and Charter Hall
Welcome back to the Insider Trades series, a summary of director transactions – those on-market trades valued above $10,000 – between 8 May and 12 May 2023.
Among the directors of ASX large-caps, this time around we’ve found 17 transactions – including only three sells.
Code | Company | Date | Director | Type | Price | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eagers Automotive | 11/5/23 | Michelle Prater | Sell | $14.20 | $3,500,385 | On-market trade | |
Charter Hall | 11/5/23 | David Harrison | Buy | $11.00 | $550,000 | On-market trade | |
Macquarie Group | 9/5/23 | Rebecca McGrath | Buy | $177.07 | $101,815 | On-market trade | |
Charter Hall | 11/5/23 | David Ross | Buy | $10.95 | $82,125 | On-market trade | |
Macquarie Group | 9/5/23 | Rebecca McGrath | Sell | $176.78 | $50,912 | On-market trade | |
Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT | 11/5/23 | David Harrison | Buy | $2.99 | $44,850 | On-market trade | |
Charter Hall Retail REIT | 11/5/23 | David Harrison | Buy | $3.83 | $38,300 | On-market trade | |
National Australia Bank | 11/5/23 | Ann Sherry | Buy | $26.37 | $32,303 | On-market trade | |
National Australia Bank | 11/5/23 | Ann Sherry | Sell | $26.37 | $32,303 | On-market trade | |
Wam Strategic Value | 12/5/23 | Geoffrey Wilson | Buy | $0.96 | $30,561 | On-market trade | |
Wam Strategic Value | 10/5/23 | Geoffrey Wilson | Buy | $0.96 | $28,817 | On-market trade | |
Macquarie Group | 12/5/23 | Rebecca McGrath | Buy | $178.85 | $25,933 | On-market trade | |
Australian Foundation Investment | 9/5/23 | Robert Freeman | Buy | $7.16 | $25,060 | On-market trade | |
Inghams Group | 12/5/23 | Linda Nicholls | Buy | $3.01 | $24,010 | On-market trade | |
Wam Strategic Value | 11/5/23 | Geoffrey Wilson | Buy | $0.97 | $21,048 | On-market trade | |
Wam Strategic Value | 15/5/23 | Geoffrey Wilson | Buy | $0.96 | $14,752 | On-market trade | |
Inghams Group | 12/5/23 | Jacqueline McArthur | Buy | $3.01 | $11,633 | On-market trade |
The largest single transaction was at global automotive retailer Eagers Automotive. We also saw several instances of multiple stock buys from directors within the same company – including four at listed investment company WAM Strategic Value, three at Macquarie Group, and four at Charter Hall.
Eagers Automotive: The sale of more than $3.5 million of stock by non-executive director and Board member Michelle Prater was easily the biggest director transaction last week. The largest in its category, Eagers’ stock appeared on another of our screeners recently. Its $14.80 share price on 9 March marked its 52-week high point. It has since retraced slightly, trading at $13.60 as of the latest close, and the stock is up 26% in 2023 so far.
WAM Strategic Value: On something of a WAR-path (sorry for the bad pun), Wilson Asset Management founder Geoff Wilson made six buys totalling a touch over $220,000 during the month. The LIC, which targets underperforming investment vehicles with a view to executing turnarounds, is trading at 96 cents a share – a 17% discount to its NTA as of 11 May 2023.
WAM insider buys (Source: Market Index)
Charter Hall Group: The company itself made the second-largest transaction of the week, with director David Harrison buying $550,000 worth of stock. David Ross scooped up a little over $82,000 of stock. Harrison also bought $38,000 and $44,000 of stock via two Charter Hall REITs.
Charter Hall 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)
Macquarie Group: Last week saw two share buys from Rebecca McGrath – totalling $127,000 – and one $50,000 sell. The diversified investment bank and financial services behemoth was called out in a recent episode of Livewire’s Buy Hold Sell for its ongoing strong earnings potential.
Macquarie Group 12-month price chart (Source: Market Index)
This article was altered on 23 May 2023 to correct the 11 May Eagers Automotive (APE) share price and Michelle Prater's transaction size.
