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

Cluster of Insider Selling at Independent Oil and Natural Gas Company

Six different insiders at Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) offloaded shares at the beginning of the week, so let’s have a look at some of the most voluminous transactions. To start with, President and CEO Travis D. Stice discarded 51,000 shares on Tuesday at prices that fell between $106.70 and $107.66 per share, cutting his overall holding to 232,342 shares. Paul S. Molnar, Vice President of Exploration and Geoscience, sold 9,263 shares on the same day at a weighted average price of $106.98 per share. Mr. Molnar owns 47,563 shares after the Tuesday sale. Randall J. Holder, General Counsel and Vice President, unloaded 16,563 shares on Tuesday at prices from a low of $106.68 to a high of $107.39 per share, which cut his ownership to a mere 6,905 shares.

The shares of the independent oil and natural gas company have jumped 40% in the past 12 months, a jump that might have triggered the spike in insider selling. Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG), which focuses on the development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas, achieved production growth of more than 40% in the second half of the previous year as the commodity price environment recovered. The firm ended the year operating five rigs, recently added a sixth operating rig and plans to add two more rigs to the Delaware Basin. The number of asset managers within our system with stakes in Diamondback Energy increased to 41 from 35 during the fourth quarter. Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management added a 427,000-share position in Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) to its pool of holdings during the December quarter.

Executives at Boston-Based REIT Sell Shares Amid Declining Hedge Fund Sentiment

There were two members of Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE:BXP)’s executive team who offloaded shares this week. Raymond A. Ritchey, Senior Executive Vice President, sold out his entire stake of 35,000 shares on Wednesday at prices varying from $136.51 to $138.45 per share. Frank D. Burt, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel since 2003, discarded his entire stake of 2,523 shares on the same day for $137.61 each.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE:BXP), one of the largest owners and developers of officer properties in the United States, has seen the value of its stock rise by 20% in the past year. In early January, analysts at RBC Capital Markets upgraded the Boston-based real estate investment trust (REIT) to a popular top pick of 2017 from an ‘Outperform’ rating. “The company owns high quality assets in top tier office markets in the US, and we expect the portfolio should benefit from a stronger US economy in 2017,” said RBC analysts in a January note. Nonetheless, the hedge fund sentiment towards the REIT declined during the December quarter, as the number of hedge funds invested in Boston Properties dropped to 12 from 17 quarter-over-quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC owned around 66,000 shares of Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE:BXP) at the end of December.

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