Three Strong Performing Companies See Corporate Insiders Unloading Company Stock & Insider Buying at Two Finance-Related Companies

High-Flying Maker of Analog Semiconductors Registers Heavy Insider Selling

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) has registered an enormous volume of insider selling in the past several trading sessions, but most insider selling was related to freshly-exercised stock options. Even so, there was some insider trading activity worth investors’ attention. Bing Xie, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Applications, discarded 8,435 shares on Friday at prices ranging from $69.69 to $70.41 per share, cutting his ownership to 190,161 shares. Moreover, Mr. Xie sold 56,250 freshly-exercised stock options two days earlier. R. Gregory Delagi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, offloaded 50,000 shares on Friday at price that fell between $69.65 and $70.45 per share, which cut his stake to 178,002 shares.

The heavy insider selling comes after the largest maker of analog semiconductors released better-than-expected financial results for the second quarter. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) has seen its market capitalization spike by 27% since the beginning of the year. Soon after the company released its second-quarter earnings report, analysts at Citigroup reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on TI and raised their price target on the stock to $75 from $68, citing operational excellence and superior usage of cash. Beech Hill Partners, run by Paul Cantor, owns 3,650 shares of Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) as of June 30.

Strong Performing Maker of Mice and Keyboards Witnesses Notable Insider Selling

Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI) also registered some heavy insider selling this past week. Chief Financial Officer Vincent Pilette discarded 100,000 shares on Friday at prices varying from $19.75 to $20.08 per share. Following the recent sale, Mr. Pilette currently owns 518,492 shares.

The shares of the well-known maker of mice and keyboards have jumped an impressive 31% so far in 2016, mainly owing to extremely strong financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 that ended June 30. Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI) recorded first-quarter sales of $480 million, up 7% year-over-year. The company’s retail sales increased 13% year-on-year in constant currency, marking the highest quarterly growth in more than five years. Logitech also raised its full-year retail sales growth outlook to 8%-to-10% from the previous forecast of growth in the mid-single digits. The company delivers extraordinary results despite facing a constantly-falling PC market, with the company being able to successfully move beyond the PC space into various frontiers of connected devices. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 2.15 million shares of Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI) at the end of the first quarter.

U.S. Temperature-Sensitive Truckload Carrier Sees CEO Unload Shares

The man in charge of Marten Transport Ltd (NASDAQ:MRTN) also discarded two blocks of shares this past week. Chairman and CEO Randolph L. Marten offloaded 50,000 shares on Thursday and 50,000 shares on Friday at prices ranging from $21.60 to $21.85 per share. After these transactions, Mr. Marten currently holds a stake of 7.15 million shares.

The U.S. temperature-sensitive truckload carrier specializing in transporting food and other consumer packaged goods that necessitate a temperature-controlled environment has seen the value of its shares advance 21% thus far in 2016. Marten Transport Ltd (NASDAQ:MRTN) released a strong second-quarter earnings report even though the company faced pricing pressures and a soft freight market during the quarter. The company’s second-quarter operating revenue increased to $166.1 million from $163.6 million recorded in the second quarter of 2015. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, had 218,025 shares of Marten Transport Ltd (NASDAQ:MRTN) in its pool of holdings on March 31.

Disclosure: None