Director Transactions

Insider Trades: Directors bought and sold these 6 ASX stocks last week

Tue 28 Jan 25, 3:49pm (AEDT)
Scientific laboratory workers with beakers
Source: iStock

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 15 and 21 January. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.

The volume of director transactions has been relatively low ahead of February reporting season. The only large cap transaction that took place was from ANZ (a bank which reports its half-year results in May). Given the lack of transactions, we'll be taking a look at some of the higher-value trades from the small-to-mid cap space.

Large Cap Insider Trades

Code

Company

Date

Director

Type

Price

Value

ANZ

ANZ

20/01/25

Shayne Elliott

Sell

$29.50

$218,211

Top ASX Insider Buys

Code

Company

Date

Director

Price

Value

MSB

Mesoblast

16/01/2025

Eric Rose

US$16.70

US$506,214

PAT

Patriot Lithium

17/01/2025

Hugh Warner

$0.05

$59,311

S2R

S2 Resources

15/01/2025

Mark Bennett

$0.08

$33,420

Interesting Takeaways

Mesoblast's Non-Executive Director Eric Rose bought a sizeable chuck of the company's US-listed shares. The timing of this trade is interesting given the recent series of events.

  • 2024 marked a major turnaround for Mesoblast, with the stock up around 585% for the year-to-December 18

  • On 19 December 2024, the FDA approved the company's Ryoncil (remestemcel-L) product, the first FDA-approved therapy for children aged 2 months and older, with steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease, a life threatening condition with high morality rates. The stock finished the session 54% higher to a fresh four-year high

  • Mesoblast successfully raised $260 million on Tuesday, 14 January 2025, through a global private placement at $2.05 per share, a 10.8% discount to its previous close. The placement was predominantly supported by its existing shareholders in the US, UK, and Australia. The stock finished the session down 9.2%

Mesoblast has enjoyed a significant rally over the past 12 months, driven by growing investor interest in biotech stocks, positive announcements, and the crucial FDA approval. Despite this strong performance, a Non-Executive Director has shown confidence by purchasing additional shares around multi-year highs.

Top ASX Insider Sells

Code

Company

Date

Director

Price

Value

BOT

Botanix Pharmaceuticals

15/01/2025

Vince Ippolito

$0.44

$1,672,000

VN8

VONEX

16/01/2025

Jason Gomersall

$0.04

$411,601

LRS

Latin Resources

21/01/2025

Christopher Gale

$0.17

$340,000

LRS

Latin Resources

21/01/2025

Brent Jones

$0.17

$170,000

LRS

Latin Resources

21/01/2025

David Vilensky

$0.17

$170,000

VN8

VONEX

15/01/2025

Brent Paddon

$0.04

$95,522

Interesting Takeaways

Botanix shares have surged approximately 160% over the past year, driven by positive clinical trial results and FDA approval for its flagship product, Sofdra, which treats excessive sweating. On 8 January, the company’s President and Executive Chairman, Vince Ippolito, exercised 8 million shares, later selling nearly half (3.8 million shares) of those exercised.

Latin Resources shares were suspended at the close of trading on Wednesday, 22 January, ahead of its planned merger with Pilbara Minerals. Several directors, including Managing Director Christopher Gale, Non-Executive Chairman David Vilensky, and Non-Executive Director Brent Jones, exercised outstanding options and sold a small portion of their holdings near the suspension date.

 

Written By

Kerry Sun

Content Strategist

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University. He is an avid swing trader, focused on technical set ups and breakouts. Outside of writing and trading, Kerry is a big UFC fan, loves poker and training Muay Thai. Connect via LinkedIn or email.

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