Tesla, Exxon Lead List Of Top Insider Trades Of Last Week

By Shira Gonen

Between earnings season, macro concerns, and falling oil prices, the market continues to fluctuate. Corporate insiders often have information that the public doesn’t, which makes their transactions more telling of a stocks behavior. Below are last week’s most notable insider transactions.

Top Buys:

On February 8, Tesla Motors Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk purchased over $4 million worth of Tesla shares when he exercised 676,000 stock options for an exercise price of $6.63. At the time of his transaction, shares of Tesla were trading at $147.99. The company released earnings two days later, posting lower than expected revenues and EPS, though issuing guidance of between 80k and 90k Model S and Model X vehicles, up 60% from last year’s guidance of 50k to 55k.

Between February 8 and February 9, Stephen Wynn, owner of Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN purchased 258,523 shares of his own company in a transaction valued at over $15 million. A few days later, the company posted better than expected EPS though slightly missed revenue estimates. The company is currently developing the Wynn Palace Project in Macau, expected to open in the first half of 2016.

In two separate transactions, dated February 8 and February 12, Director Marc Stern sold 25,000 shares of QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM, totaling 50,000 shares, for $1.12 million and $1.08 million, respectively. Last week, the company held its analyst day, highlighting new products, the expansion of its licensing business, and the collection of royalties from companies in China. However, many analysts seemed unimpressed with the company’s plans and remain concerned about the company’s ability to scale its licensing segment.

Top Sells:

On February 8, Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM insiders Alan Kelly and James Spellings, both VPs of the company, sold $725,668 and $940,804 worth of shares, respectively. Following suit, Executive Officer Randy Cleveland sold $783,165 worth of Exxon stock on February 11. Since oil has been plunging for well over a year, many believe that Exxon is the last financially stable oil giant. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen close to 13 percent.

On February 9, Zvi Lando, VP of global sales for Solaredge Technologies Inc SEDG, bought over 61,000 options of for an exercise price of $1.50 before converting them into common stock and selling them for an average price of $23.50, for a total of over $1.5 million. Lando joins two other insiders who sold shares of the company on the same day. SolarEdge released earnings last week, posting y/y increases in revenue and EPS, while also issuing positive guidance.