CEOs of Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) and Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (MMP) Trim Equity Stakes; Other Insider Trading

CEO of Diversified Leggett & Platt Offloads Shares

The man in charge of Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE:LEG) also unloaded a large amount of shares earlier this week. President and CEO Karl G. Glassman sold 79,772 shares on Monday at a price tag of $48.74 each, cutting his ownership to 416,859 shares.

Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE:LEG), which makes mattress springs, wire, in-store product displays and car-seating systems, has seen its market capitalization rise by 18% in the past year. The company reported full-year sales of $3.75 billion for 2016, down 4% year-over-year. The impact of unit volume growth of 2% and acquisitions-fueled sales growth was more than offset by divestitures, raw material-related price deflation and currency impact. Nevertheless, Leggett & Platt reported record continuing operations earnings-per-share of $2.62, which increased by 15% year-on-year. The company plans to deliver a total shareholder return (i.e. the combined return of capital gains and dividends) that ranks in the top third of the S&P 500 over rolling three-year periods. For the three years that ended December, Leggett & Platt generated an average TSR of 20% per annum, which enabled the company to reach the top 11% of companies in the S&P 500. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management had around 74,000 shares of Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE:LEG) in its portfolio at the end of December.

Insiders at Strong-Performing Analog Chipmaker Keep Selling Shares

Although we discussed a cluster of insider selling at Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) earlier this month, insiders at the company keep trimming their positions. For instance, Chief Operating Officer Brian T. Crutcher liquidated 42,550 shares on Friday at prices that fell between $76.21 and $76.32 per share, reducing his ownership to 201,284 shares. Mr. Crutcher also has an indirect ownership stake of 102,899 shares held in a trust for the benefit of family members.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN), which designs and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers, has seen the value of its shares advance by 50% in the past 12 months. The huge volume of insider selling comes after the analog chipmaker released stronger-than-expected financial results for the final quarter of 2016. Texas Instruments, usually viewed as a barometer for the semiconductor industry, reported revenue of $3.41 billion for the December quarter, up by 7.1% year-over-year. This figure beat analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Mehdi Mahmud-led First Eagle Investment Management upped its stake in Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) by 13% during the fourth quarter to 5.25 million shares.

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