Eye-Catching Insider Selling at Ross Stores, Celgene Corporation, Copart; Two Other Companies Register Insider Buying

Board Member of Giant Biotechnology Company Sells Shares

The volume of insider selling at Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) was relatively high this past week, although some insiders solely sold freshly-exercised stock options. Ernest Mario, a member of the company’s boardroom since August 2007, discarded 15,000 shares on Friday at a price of $109.42 per share. Following the recent sale, Dr. Mario currently owns a stake of 90,058 shares.

The integrated global biopharmaceutical company reported total revenue of $2.75 billion for the three months that ended June 30, an increase of $476.5 million as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The increase was mainly driven by continued growth in sales of REVLIMID, POMALYST/IMNOVID and OTEZLA. Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) plans to reach $21 billion in sales in 2020, with REVLIMID – a drug that modifies the body’s immune system to fight cancer – serving as one of the main growth engines. The $21 billion-figure compares with an estimated $11.1 billion in 2016. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC reported ownership of around 593,000 shares of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) in its 13F for the second quarter.

CEO of Ross Stores Sells Two Blocks of Shares

The person in charge of Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) liquidated two sizeable blocks of shares last week. Chief Executive Officer Barbara Rentler discarded 12,840 shares on Thursday and 20,000 shares last Monday at prices that fell in the range of $62.50 and $63.80 per share. After the recent transactions, Ms. Rentler currently owns 542,851 shares of Ross Stores.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST), which operates two brands of off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores: Ross Dress for Less (“Ross”) and dd’s DISCOUNTS, has seen the value of its stock gain 18% year-to-date. Ross represents the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States. In mid-August, analysts at Wedbush reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on Ross Stores and increased their price target on the stock to $67 from $65, saying that “with comps back on track, market share gains continuing, gross margins moving higher, and still room for execution improvement in 2H, we remain constructive on ROST’s near-term and long-term outlook.”  Arron Cowen’s Suvretta Capital Management owns 1.16 million shares of Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) as of June 30.

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