Heavy Insider Selling at Prologis Inc. (PLD) and PRA Health Sciences Inc. (PRAH), Plus Insider Buying at 3 Other Companies

New Director of Battered Biotherapeutics Company Purchases Shares

There was a massive insider purchase of Vital Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ:VTL) stock this past week, so let’s find out who stands behind the recent purchase. Faheem Hasnain, freshly-appointed member of the company’s Board of Directors, snapped up 118,243 shares on Friday at a price tag of $5.92 each. After the recent purchase, made in conjunction with joining Vital Therapies’ Board, Mr. Hasnain currently owns 122,743 shares.

The biotherapeutics company focused on developing a human hepatic cell-based treatment targeting acute forms of liver failure has seen the value of its shares decline by 45% since the start of the year. Vital Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ:VTL) developed the ELAD System, an extracorporeal human allogeneic cellular liver therapy designed to enable a patient’s own liver to regenerate to a healthy state or stabilize a patient until transplant. In the final quarter of 2015, the company started a new Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the ELAD System in subjects with severe acute alcoholic hepatitis. D.E. Shaw & Co. L.P., founded by David E. Shaw, owns 46,667 shares of Vital Therapies Inc. (NASDAQ:VTL) as of June 30.

Board Member of Tim Hortons and Burger King Owner Buys Shares

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) was yet another company that had some insider buying last week. Board member Ali Hedayat bought 5,000 shares on Thursday at prices ranging from $47.72 to $47.75 per share. Following the recent purchase, Mr. Hedayat currently owns 20,000 shares.

The quick service restaurant company that owns the Tim Hortons and Burger King brands has seen its market cap jump by 27% since the beginning of the year. Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR)’s Burger King recently rolled out a hamburger-burrito hybrid called Whopperrito that features its own interpretation of the Tex-Mex trend. The burger chain’s Whopperrito is a mashup of a burrito and its popular Whopper. This represents the company’s latest experiment with unique offerings to lure back consumers who have been cutting back on their fast food dining. There were 31 hedge funds in our system with long positions in the fast-food chain at the end of March, accumulating 32% of the company’s outstanding shares. Aaron Cowen’s Suvretta Capital Management reported ownership of 3.37 million shares of Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE:QSR) in its latest 13F filing.

The final page of this article will discuss the noteworthy insider selling registered at two other companies.