CEO of Data Center REIT Purchases Shares After Massive Dividend Increase, High-Ranked Executive at U.S. Industrial Conglomerate Sells Shares After Acquisition Announcement, Plus Other Insider Trading

Most investors would certainly agree that tracking insider trading behavior should be part of one’s stock selection and analysis process. At the end of the day, company executives and board members have more in-depth knowledge and up-to-date information on how their companies are performing and how they are likely to perform in the future. Of course, there is no corporate insider who could accurately tell you how undervalued or overvalued his or her company’s shares are, but insiders surely have a better understanding of where their companies are heading.

It is commonly known that insiders sell shares for a wide range of reasons that may not be related to their companies’ future prospects or intrinsic value. While not a lot of weight can be put on insider sales, this type of activity should not be overlooked by any means. Insider sales may occasionally suggest that insiders do not anticipate any significant positive developments at their companies in the near future, otherwise they would have not sold the shares in the first place. Greed in financial markets is often viewed as natural and true to the human competitive spirit, which implies insiders won’t sell unless they don’t anticipate major positive announcements or developments in the near-term. That being said, the following article will predominantly discuss fresh insider selling reported with the SEC on Tuesday, as well as cover some mild insider buying.

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CEO of Data Center REIT Purchases Shares After Massive Dividend Increase

To begin with, the man in charge of CoreSite Realty Corp (NYSE:COR) bought a block of shares at the beginning of the week. President and Chief Executive Officer Paul E. Szurek purchased 7,000 shares on Monday at a price tag of $68.92 each, lifting his overall holding to 59,561 shares.

The shares of the provider of data center and interconnection solutions across the United States are up 24% thus far in 2016 despite having embarked a steady downtrend since early July. At the end of September, CoreSite Realty Corp (NYSE:COR)’s property portfolio comprised 18 operating data center facilities, office and light-industrial space and multiple development projects, which collectively comprised more than 2.9 million net rentable square feet. Earlier this month, the company’s Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.80 per share for the fourth quarter, representing an increase of $0.27 per share over the previously-paid dividend. The freshly-increased quarterly dividend equates to an annual dividend yield of 4.54%. Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management was the owner of 95,000 shares of CoreSite Realty Corp (NYSE:COR) at the end of the third quarter.

The next pages of this article will discuss more insider transactions reported with the SEC on Tuesday.

Insider at Liquid Petroleum Products Pipeline Operator Buys Some Shares

One member of the boardroom of Buckeye Partners L.P. (NYSE:BPL)’s general partner piled up a few shares this week as well. Martin A. White, a director of the master limited partnership’s general partner Buckeye GP LLC, bought 3,938 limited partner units on Monday at a cost of $63.00 per unit. After the recent purchase, Mr. White currently owns an aggregate of 19,242 units.

Buckeye Partners L.P. (NYSE:BPL) owns and operates a network of integrated assets providing midstream logistic solutions, mainly consisting of transportation, storage and marketing of liquid petroleum products. In late October, the midstream company agreed to acquire a 50% equity interest in marine terminal company VTTI B.V. for $1.15 billion. VTTI B.V. will be jointly owned with Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, and its investment vehicle. According to a fresh statement issued by Buckeye Partners, VTTI is one of the largest independent global marine terminal businesses that owns and operates around 54 million barrels of petroleum products storage through 13 terminals globally. The midstream company has seen the value of its units drop by 4% this year. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC had around 329,000 shares of Buckeye Partners L.P. (NYSE:BPL) in its portfolio at the end of September.

Board Member of Provider of Internet-Based Mailing and Shipping Solutions Discards Shares

A member of Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP)’s Board of Directors offloaded a sizeable block of shares earlier this week. Board member Lloyd I. Miller III filed Tuesday to disclose the sale of 50,000 shares at a price of $108.00 per share, a block held indirectly by Milfam II L.P. that currently owns an aggregate of 153,915 shares. Mr. Miller also holds a direct ownership stake of 195,669 shares, along with additional shares held indirectly through various entities and trust accounts.

The shares of the provider of Internet-based mailing and shipping solutions are up a little less than 1% this year, after gaining 17% in the past six months. Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP) enjoyed a sharp increase in sales in the third quarter, reflecting the successful integration of its recent string of acquisitions. In early July, the company completed the acquisition of ShippingEasy, a Texas-based company that offers web-based multi-carrier shipping software enabling online retailers and e-commerce merchants to organize, process, fulfill and ship their orders quickly, for around $55 million. Stamps.com’s revenue for the third quarter totaled $92.6 million, up 79% year-over-year. There were 31 hedge funds from our system with long positions in Stamps.com at the end of the third quarter, up from 27 funds at the end of the second quarter. Peter S. Park’s Park West Asset Management added a 480,000-share stake in Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP) to its pool of holdings during the third quarter.

The final page of this insider trading article will discuss more insider selling activity reported with the U.S. securities regulator on Tuesday.

COO of U.S. Industrial Conglomerate Sells Shares After Acquisition Announcement

A number of insiders at Parker-Hannifin Corp (NYSE:PH) sold shares in the past several days, most of whom offloaded freshly-vested stock appreciation rights. Nonetheless, there was a major insider sale at the company that didn’t involve stock appreciation rights or stock options. President and Chief Operating Officer Lee C. Banks liquidated 20,900 shares on Friday at prices varying from $142.22 to $142.68 per share. Mr. Banks currently owns a direct ownership stake of 52,357 shares following the recent sale.

The worldwide diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems serving a variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets has seen the value of its shares rise by 46% since the start of the year. The insider selling discussed above comes shortly after the U.S. industrial conglomerate agreed to buy CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE:CLC) for about $4.3 billion in an attempt to penetrate the profitable market for replacement filters for trucks and construction equipment, and other products. Shares of industrial companies such as Parker-Hannifin Corp (NYSE:PH) have surged after Donald Trump claimed victory in the presidential election on expectations of higher infrastructure spending and lower corporate taxes. Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena investment Management reported ownership of 3.51 million shares of Parker-Hannifin Corp (NYSE:PH) through the latest round of 13Fs.

Board Member of the Corner Store Operator Sell Shares Ahead of Takeover Completion

One member of CST Brands Inc. (NYSE:CST)’s boardroom has been offloading a great deal of shares over the past several days. Joseph V. Topper Jr., who has served as a member of the Board since October 2014, sold 33,000 shares on Monday and 14,421 shares on Friday at prices ranging from $48.10 to $48.14 per share. Mr. Topper also sold 25,000 shares on Thursday and 11,240 shares on Wednesday at prices that fell in the same range. Following this series of sales, the Board member currently owns an aggregate of 1.05 million shares.

In late August, the independent retailer of motor fuels and convenience merchandise agreed to be acquired by Quebec-based convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard for $4.4 billion. Therefore, the recent insider selling at the Corner Store operator does not seem surprising at all. Under the terms of the agreement reached this summer, CST Brands Inc. (NYSE:CST) shareholders are set to receive $48.53 per share in cash for each share owned, which yields the aforementioned figure of $4.4 billion including the assumption of net debt. Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp owned approximately 750,000 shares of CST Brands Inc. (NYSE:CST) at the end of September.

Disclosure: None