Insider Trades: 5 ASX 200 directors bought and sold these stocks last week
The volume of director transactions has taken a pause, likely due to the market's recent tumble and uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs.
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Mentioned
Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A weekly summary of on-market ASX 200 director transactions valued at more than $10,000. The trades have all taken place between 24 and 27 March. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.
The volume of ASX 200 director transactions spiked after February reporting season, with insiders generally buying into weakness and selling into strength. This week, however, transaction activity has paused, likely due to the market's recent slide toward correction territory, compounded by ongoing uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs, economic growth, and inflation.
Top ASX 200 Director Trades
Code | Company | Date | Director | Type | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Hope Corp | 25/03/25 | Buy | $4.08 | $306,084 | ||
Viva Energy | 24/03/25 | Buy | $1.82 | $54,600 | ||
Sonic Healthcare | 25/03/25 | Buy | $25.60 | $51,200 | ||
BHP Group | 25/03/25 | Buy | $49.76 | $49,759 | ||
GPT Group | 27/03/25 | Buy | $4.44 | $44,400 | ||
GPT Group | 24/03/25 | Buy | $4.35 | $39,924 | ||
GPT Group | 25/03/25 | Buy | $4.45 | $25,907 |
Key takeaways
New Hope's Non-Executive Director Robert Millner added to his warchest of approximately 6 million shares. Year-to-date, New Hope shares are down around 25%, mirroring the 20% decline in Newcastle coal futures over the same period. The company's 1H25 results (17-Mar) reported net profits of $340 million and an interim dividend of 19 cents per share (60% payout ratio), which was largely in-line with market expectations. With $450 million in cash at period-end, New Hope also launched an on-market buyback program of up to $100 million. Despite these solid earnings and a strong balance sheet, Goldman Sachs maintained a Sell rating on the stock as of March 19, citing persistent weakness in thermal coal prices.
GPT Group's Non-Executive Director Vickki McFadden purchased 25,000 shares (worth around $110,000) across three transactions, increasing her beneficial ownership to 250,050 shares. GPT shares are trading around breakeven year-to-date, outperforming the broader market's 4.2% decline. The stock rallied 4.5% on the day of its full-year results (17-Feb), which reported:
FY24 funds from operations up 2.5% to 32.2 cents per share, in-line with guidance
Strong retail performance, with retail income growth of 4.9% in FY24
Industrial comparable income growth was 5.6% in FY24
FY25 funds from operations guidance of 32.5-33.1 cents per share or 1-3% ahead of consensus expectations
Management suggested over the long-term, assets under management could be over $85 billion (from current $34 billion)
