Massive Clusters of Insider Buying at United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and Two Other Companies

CEO and New Director at Acacia Research Purchased Shares This Week

Acacia Research Corp (NASDAQ:ACTG) had two corporate insiders buy shares earlier this week, including its most influential executive. Chief Executive Officer Marvin E. Key purchased 55,000 shares on Monday at a price of $4.15 per share, boosting his ownership to 190,833 shares. Freshly-appointed Director, Frank E. Walsh III, acquired a new stake of 35,000 units of common stock on Monday at a price tag of $4.13 per unit.

In early March of this year, the company received a proposal from ARC Acquisition Company LLC to purchase all Acacia’s outstanding shares for $3.72 per share in cash, but the Board determined that the proposal was inadequate. Shares of Acacia have gained 22% in the past three months and are currently trading notably above the $3.72-offer, but they continue to trade significantly below the 52-week high of $11.34 reached at the end of April 2015. Acacia Research, which invests in, licenses and enforces patented technologies, generated revenue of $24.72 million in the first quarter of 2016, down from $34.21 million in the same period of 2015. First-quarter non-GAAP net income was $2.53 million, as compared to $3.16 million reported for the first quarter of 2015.

There were 12 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey with stakes in Acacia Research at the end of 2015, which amassed nearly 16% of the company’s outstanding shares. John W. Rogers’ Ariel Investments had 3.58 million shares of Acacia Research Corp (NASDAQ:ACTG) in its equity portfolio at the end of December.