This Auction House Registers Cluster of Insider Buying
Sothebys (NYSE:BID) had a cluster of insider buying this week, which involved three different insiders. Olivier Reza, Board member at Sotheby’s, reported the purchase of 10,000 shares on Wednesday for $30.00 each, all of which are held by grantor trusts that collectively own 45,000 shares. Mr. Reza also holds a direct ownership stake of 10,000 shares. Harry J. Wilson, another Board member, bought 653 shares on Wednesday for $29.98 each and 4,347 shares on Thursday at $30.33 apiece, boosting his stake to 28,000 shares. Last but not least, Domenico De Sole, Chairman of Sotheby’s Board of Directors, acquired 6,620 shares on Thursday at prices that ranged from $30.20 to $30.39 per share. The Chairman lifted his overall holding to 33,105 shares.
The shares of the auction house have advanced by 19% since the start of 2016. The insider trading activity at Sothebys (NYSE:BID) may be particularly interesting for outsiders considering that trends in the art market may be difficult to predict, which surely cause major variability in the company’s financial results each quarter. Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC had 6.66 million shares of Sothebys (NYSE:BID) among its pool of holdings at the end of the March quarter.
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Pandora Media’s Board Member Buys Shares amid Activist Pressure
Timothy Leiweke, who has been serving on Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P)’s Board of Directors since April 2015, purchased 10,000 shares on Wednesday at prices that fell in the range of $11.57 to $11.68 per share. Mr. Leiweke currently owns 43,798 shares.
The insider purchase comes shortly after the Keith Meister’s Corvex Management LP revealed economic interest in 9.95% of the Internet-radio pioneer’s outstanding shares. The activist investment firm urged Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P) to engage an independent investment bank to conduct a value maximization process, which would examine a possible sale of the company. The activist hedge fund, run by a former protégé of Carl Icahn, said in a fresh letter to Pandora’s Board that the company “has been unable to date to translate its great product into a great business with an attractive public market valuation”, pointing out the company’s “questionable capital allocation decisions”, “poor investor communications”, “lack of senior management equity ownership” and other issues. Pandora Media shares are down 9% so far in 2016. In a freshly-submitted 13D with the SEC, Corvex Management LP disclosed ownership of 19.07 million shares of Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE:P), as well as additional economic exposure in the form of cash-settled swaps.
