Bank of America (BAC), Royal Caribbean (RCL), and Southwest Airlines (LUV) Among 5 Companies With Intense Insider Trading Activity

The CEO of This Low-Fare Carrier Buys Shares Amid ‘No Confidence’ Vote from Employees

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) also saw its most influential executive pile up some shares earlier this week. Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, reported the purchase of 28,106 shares on Tuesday at prices that fell between $35.55 and $35.60 per share, all of which are held in a family trust for Mr. Kelly and his descendants. The family trust currently holds 69,891 shares. Mr. Kelly also holds a direct ownership stake of 505,119 shares.

The insider buying comes a few days after the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association voted unanimously to issue a vote of no confidence in Mr. Kelly, saying that “we can no longer sit idly by and watch poor decision after poor decision deeply affect our customers and Southwest Airlines.” The union, which represents approximately 8,000 pilots, also requested that Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven step down from his role at the company. Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has seen the value of its stock plunge by 16% since the start of 2016. Matthew Barrett’s Glendon Capital Management owns 191,128 shares of Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) as of the end of June.

Noteworthy Insider Buying at Bank of America Despite Depressed Interest Rate Outlook

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) was yet another company that had noteworthy insider buying this week. Board member Thomas D. Woods snatched up 25,000 shares on Tuesday at a price tag of $14.13 each, boosting his overall holding to 32,459 shares.

Numerous analysts recommend investors reduce their exposure to banking stocks until the interest rate outlook improves significantly. As top-tier U.S. banks like Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) are currently facing top-line challenges, they need to implement more cost-cutting efforts to improve profitability. Bank of America anticipates full-year 2016 expenses of $53 billion, down from approximately $58 billion in 2015 as the second-largest bank in the U.S. by assets attempts to counter the persistently low interest rates. Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.075 from $0.05 per share, as well as revealed plans to repurchase up to $5 billion worth of shares over the next four quarters. Bank of America shares are 13% in the red in 2016. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported ownership of 43.26 million shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) as of June 30.

Let’s head to the final page of this article where we’ll discuss the fresh insider selling registered at two companies.