Cluster of Insider Buying at New York & Company Inc. (NWY); CEO of Washington-Based Bank Offloads Shares; Other Insider Trading

Board Members at Nr. 1-Ranked Bank (According to Forbes) Unload Shares

Two members of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW)’s boardroom offloaded shares this week. To begin with, Board member Craig A. Carlson discarded 1,124 shares on Tuesday at $54.54 apiece, cutting his ownership to 6,207 shares. Director Andrew B. Fremder sold out his entire stake of 22,179 shares on the same day at prices ranging from $53.94 to $54.77 per share.

The holding company for its Los Angeles-based wholly-owned banking subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank, has seen its market cap increase by 55% in the past 12 months. According to a recent Forbes article that ranked the biggest banks on ten different metrics, PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) represents the number one-ranked bank after reaching the top 20 in eight of the ten metrics measured. The Los Angeles-based bank enjoyed a 5.4% net interest margin in the period that ended September 30 – the third-best among the 100 largest banks, as well as a return on average assets of 1.6% – the fourth-best on the list. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported owning 2.08 million shares of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) in its 13F for the fourth quarter.

CEO of Washington-Based Bank Offloads Shares After Announcing Retirement

The man in charge of Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) discarded a great deal of shares earlier this week. Chairman and CEO Roy M. Whitehead liquidated 14,000 shares on Wednesday, 10,550 shares on Tuesday and 7,000 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $33.37 and $34.25 per share. Mr. Whitehead recently announced his decision to leave the post as CEO at the banking company after nearly 17 years on the job effective April 1, but he will take the new position of Executive Chairman of the company’s Board. The soon-to-retire CEO currently owns an aggregate of 356,310 shares following the recent sales.

The shares of the largest bank headquartered in Washington state are up 63% in the past year. Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) conducts its business operations through federally-insured national bank subsidiary Washington Federal, National Association. Earlier this month, the bank’s boardroom approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share, up from $0.14 from the previous quarter. The Board also approved a one-time special dividend of $0.25 per share. Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital acquired a stake of 7,863 shares of Washington Federal Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) during the fourth quarter.

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