Insider Trades: Directors bought and sold shares in these 4 ASX 200 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 trades have all taken place between and 11 and 17 October 2024. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.

Top ASX 200 Insider Buys

Incremental Buys

Three relatively small buys from Non-Executive Directors Samantha Tough and Dean Valle.

Aurizon has not reported any market-sensitive news since its FY24 result on 12 August, where the stock dipped 8.8% after reporting full-year earnings and dividends that missed analyst expectations b 5.1% and 2.2% respectively. The coal segment's underperformance was a key issue, with higher operational costs eroding margins despite increased volumes. Analysts came away cautious on the outlook for Aurizon, noting that while short-term challenges exist, there were long-term growth opportunities in bulk and network.

Rio Tinto's Dean Valle was the former Chief Commercial Officer as well as President of Coal and Uranium at BHP. He's purchased $50,700 worth of shares shortly after the company announced plans to acquire Arcadium Lithium.

Top ASX 200 Insider Sells

Persistent Selling

Netwealth insiders including Non-Executive Director Davyd Lewis, Managing Directors Matthew Heine and Michael Heine have sold a collective $66 million worth of shares in October. Shares in wealth management platforms like Netwealth and Hub24 have running hot, both up more than 100% in the past twelve months. This move has been underpinned by a structural shift within the Australian wealth management market, presenting an opportunity for tech-savvy platforms.

The stock experienced 5.5% selloff on 13 August after the company's FY24 results were slightly below expectations. The disappointing result was largely due to lower-than-expected revenue and a larger than anticipated decline in revenue margins. Although management previously signaled a potential margin decline, the actual reduction was more pronounced. Despite this, the company's strong pipeline and solid start to the new financial year provided some reassurance to the market.

Netwealth's latest update (September 2024 quarterly – 10 Oct) highlighted $3.9 billion of inflows for the quarter (vs. Macquarie estimates of $3.2 billion). Management said they have a "high level of confidence" in the outlook for flows, which are from a diverse range of sources. Despite strong market movements, Macquarie analysts said "we continue to struggle with the current ~57xs NTM PE multiple, which has decoupled from our fundamental valuation. However, with a strong pipeline, we see limited near-term catalysts for a de-rating."

Wisetech's Founder Richard White has sold approximately $673 million worth of shares on-market so far this year. This compares to $22.7 million in 2023, $195.7 million in 2023 and $183 million in 2022. The stock has tumbled more than 20% in the last five sessions amid an ongoing investigation by The Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, which revealed that a woman who had a sexual relationship with Mr. White made serious allegations against him, leading to a multi-million dollar settlement.