Long-Serving Director at Re-Organized Diversified Holding Company Initiates Stake Amid Fraud Allegations; Other Noteworthy Insider Trading

Executive at Growing Asset Custodian Offloads Shares

Let’s now switch our focus on some fresh insider selling reported with the U.S. securities regulator, starting with Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS). Jeffrey D. Cohodes, Chief Risk Officer and Executive Vice President, offloaded 15,000 shares on Friday at prices that fell in the range of $83.45 and $83.83 per share. Mr. Cohodes currently owns an aggregate of 38,397 shares following the recent sale.

The asset custodian, a provider of asset servicing, fund administration, asset management, fiduciary and banking solutions, has seen the value of its shares advance by 37% in the past year. Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS)’s assets under custody/administration stood at $8.54 trillion at the end of December, up from $8.50 trillion on September 30 and $7.80 trillion on December 31, 2015. As the asset custodian generates much of its revenue from fees, the size of assets under administration are of the utmost importance. The company’s net income for 2016 totaled $1.03 billion, as compared to $973.8 million recorded for the previous year. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had around 87,000 shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) in its 13F  portfolio at the end of December.

Executive at Oklahoma’s Largest State-Chartered Bank Sells Shares

A member of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF)’s executive team also unloaded some shares last week. Regional Executive Karen James liquidated 7,500 units of common stock on Friday at a price tag of $95.00 each, cutting her stake to 7,618 units. Ms. James also holds an indirect ownership stake of 33,444 shares, held via her employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The Oklahoma-based financial services holding company, which operates Oklahoma’s largest state-chartered bank with 100 banking locations, released its fourth-quarter earnings report several days ago. BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF)’s shares trade near their 52-week high of $95.55, after having gained 78% in the past year. This impressive run likely explains the insider sale mentioned above. The company’s net interest income for 2016 rose to $203.8 million from $188.8 million recorded for 2015. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC reported owning 122,394 shares of BancFirst Corporation (NASDAQ:BANF) in its last 13F filing.

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