Is The Broader Market Correction Forcing These Companies’ Insiders To Sell Shares?

Let’s now move on to Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE:FNF), one of the largest providers of title insurance, technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries in the United States. Director Richard N. Massey offloaded 9,038 of FNFV Group’s common stock last week at a weighted average price of $13.427, trimming his stake to 9,452 shares of Fidelity National Financial’s holding company. Massey also maintains 152,675 shares of FNF. Fidelity National Financial is divided into two groups, FNF Core Operations and FNF Ventures (FNFV). The latter one holds majority and minority equity investment stakes in a number of entities, including American Blue Ribbon Holdings LLC and J. Alexander’s Holdings LLC, so FNFV represents a tracking stock that was established to highlight the value of the portfolio companies of FNF. Meanwhile, the FNF shares are nearly 1% in the green year-to-date despite suffering two major slumps over the past two months or so. Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management is among the largest shareholders of Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE:FNF) within our database, holding 9.70 million shares as of June 30.

Last but not least, ClearBridge Energy MLP Fund Inc. (NYSE:CEM) had one of its Directors sell shares on Friday. William R. Hutchinson sold 6,000 shares at prices in the range of $19.19 to $20.03, while 2,501 of these shares were held for the benefit of Mr. Hutchinson’s wife. Following the recent transaction, the Director no longer owns shares of ClearBridge. It is also worth mentioning that Carol L. Colman, another Director of ClearBridge, unloaded 2,000 shares for $20.06 each earlier this month, trimming her stake to 1,120 shares. Even though ClearBridge Energy MLP Fund primarily focuses on energy-related master limited partnerships with stable cash flow streams and low exposure to commodities, it appears that the low-price commodity environment has put downward pressure on the stock. The shares of ClearBridge have lost almost 40% since the beginning of the year and 23% over the past month. Therefore, it might be the case that the two Directors decided to cash out some or all of their stakes fearing more downside in the months ahead.

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