Interim CEO of Struggling Nutritional Supplements Retailer Buys Nearly $5 Million Worth of Stock, Plus Other Insider Trading

Founder and CEO of Advisory-Focused Investment Bank Boost Stake

The man in charge of PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT) also purchased shares in the past several days. Chairman and CEO Paul J. Taubman bought 23 shares on Tuesday, 5,775 shares on Wednesday and 2,702 shares on Thursday at prices between $36.60 and $37.14 per share. Mr. Taubman, the founder of PJT Partners, currently holds a stake of 433,500 shares.

The shares of the advisory-focused investment bank have gained 37% in the past year and Mr. Taubman keeps buying shares, which would normally be viewed as a very bullish signal. PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT)’s shares surged in early February when the company released its financial results for the fourth quarter. The firm reported revenues of $173.5 million for the December quarter, up significantly from $103.8 million reported for the year-earlier quarter. PJT Partners generated revenues of $499.4 million during 2016, as compared to $405.9 million during 2015. The company’s advisory revenues increased 32% year-on-year to $377.6 million due to an overall increase in the number of clients and size of fees mainly within the restructuring and special situations businesses. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC was the equity holder of 285,100 shares of PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT) at the end of December.

Freshly-Appointed Board Member at AmEx Acquires New Stake

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) had not registered any insider buying since late January 2016 until this week. John J. “Jack” Brennan, appointed to the company’s Board of Directors in late January, acquired a stake of 4,000 shares on Tuesday at a price tag of $79.74 each.

The global services company has seen the value of its shares rise by 43% in the past 12 months. Just recently, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods (KBW) upgraded American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’, citing “improved fundamentals and visibility.” Nonetheless, KBW analysts and other market participants acknowledge that the company’s main risks relate to the competitive environment, with some analysts predicting that AmEx could lose another 380 basis points of market share between 2016 and 2021. The market share loss could reach 420 basis points if American Express loses its co-branding partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Meanwhile, KBW analysts raised their price target on AmEx to $91 from $81. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had 151.61 million shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in its portfolio at the end of 2016.

Let’s move on to the final page of the article, where we discuss fresh insider selling observed at two companies.