Insider Trading: DST Systems Board Member Just Bought in Under $76 a Share

Insider trading: On Tuesday, Lowell L. Bryan, a member of DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST)’s board acquired 263 shares of common stock for $75.94 each, or a total value of approximately $19,710. Actually, the transaction was executed in multiple trades, at prices ranging from $75.925 to $76.26; the price reported is an average. Also, the acquisition was effected pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, adopted by Bryan on April 5th, 2012.

DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST)

Bryan now holds about $771,145 in stock, or 10,128 shares at current prices (As of Wed. Oct. 2nd, 11:58 AM EST). Since June 1st, 2012, he more than tripled his participation in the company, adding stock to his portfolio every month. Over this period, shares gained more than 40% in price, while generating above average returns (trailing twelve months, return on equity stands at 26.6%, and return on asset, at 8.6%, compared to the respective industry averages of 16.6% and 5.1%).

The acquisition follows the end of the third quarter, on Sept. 30th. Although financial results will be announced on Oct. 24th at 6:00 A.M. Central Time, Bryan probably has an insight on them already. Although we cannot be sure about this, an insider increasing his bet on the company is usually not a bad sign. Also on Monday Sept. 30th, DST was upgraded by analysts at Ned Davis Research from a neutral rating to a buy rating. A week before this, the company’s Anova Performance was named “Best-In-Class” by CEB TowerGroup in its “Performance Measurement Technology Analysis” Capital Markets Report.

DST’s biggest hedge fund bulls are David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, which holds $108,211,000 in stock (this accounts for about 2.03% of its portfolio), and Scopia Capital, which owns 866,919 shares, worth about $56,636,000. In fact, about 29 of the “hedgies” that we track hold a position in this company.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned

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