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

Insider buying usually implies corporate insiders are bullish on their company’s future prospects or shows insiders’ belief that the shares of their company are cheap. Furthermore, past research finds that insider purchases can earn an abnormal return both for corporate insiders and outsiders piggybacking insiders’ moves, so it does make sense to keep track of insider buying.

However, retail investors monitoring insider trading behavior should keep in mind that insiders are prohibited from “short-swing” transactions. This essentially means that insider trading metrics are suitable for longer-term-oriented investors only, as Board members and executives are implicitly forced to act as long-term value investors. But how can investors find information-rich insider buying activity? Literally anyone can get insider trading information for each U.S. publicly traded company on the SEC website, but it may be time consuming to search through thousands of filings out there. And here where our team comes in. Insider Monkey compiles lists of noteworthy insider trading on daily basis, so one can save a great deal of time by simply subscribing to our daily newsletters or looking for our insider trading articles on our website. That being said, let’s proceed to the discussion of some notable insider trading activity reported with the SEC on Friday.

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The Founder of Omni-Channel Retailer Purchases Shares After Plunge

One of the most important figures at Trans World Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:TWMC) purchased some shares last week. Robert J. Higgins, non-executive Chairman of the Board since January 2016, purchased a block of 18,001 shares on Thursday at $3.11 apiece and 13,999 shares on Friday for $3.10 each. The 32,000-share stake is held directly by the founder of the omni-channel retailer. Mr. Higgins also holds an indirect ownership stake of 14.28 million shares, held by the Robert J. Higgins TWMC Trust.

Trans World Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:TWMC) operates a chain of retail entertainment stores, mainly under the names f.y.e. (i.e. for your entertainment) and Suncoast Motion Pictures. The insider purchases mentioned above come shortly after the shares of the specialty retailer of entertainment products plunged following the release of disappointing sales figures in early January. The company’s sales from the f.y.e segment decreased by 10% year-over-year in the nine weeks that ended December 31, reflecting a comparable store sales decline of 7% and 3% fewer stores in operation. Meanwhile, the retailer’s total sales grew by 16% year-on-year due to the acquisition of an innovative and leading digital marketplace retail expert, called etailz. Trans World Entertainment’s shares are flat over the past year. Nantahala Capital Management, run by Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack, owned 1.78 million shares of Trans World Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:TWMC) at the end of the third quarter.

The next two pages of this article will focus on some fresh insider trading recorded at four other companies.

Long-Serving Director at Recently Re-Organized Diversified Holding Company Initiates Stake

One member of Live Ventures Inc. (NASDAQ:LIVE)’s Board of Directors initiated a stake in the company this past week. Dennis Gao, who has served as a director of the company since January 2012, acquired a 9,721-share stake on Thursday at prices varying from $19.28 to $19.85 per share.

A few years ago, Live Ventures Inc. (NASDAQ:LIVE) started a strategic shift in its business plan away from offering online marketing solutions to acquiring profitable companies in various industries. The company’s shares plummeted on January 6 this year, after Seeking Alpha published an article alleging that Live Ventures paid as much as $2 million to stock promoters to hype the company and that the company boosted the bottom-line figure with several one-time discretionary accounting gains. Live Ventures reported its first full year of profitability for the first time in nine years, reporting nearly $80 million in revenue and $17.8 million in net income for the 2016 fiscal year. The long-serving director’s purchase may possibly alleviate some concerns in the market and signal an attractive entry point for investors. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC sold its 2,062-share stake in Live Ventures Inc. (NASDAQ:LIVE) during the third quarter.

Board Member of Stellar Distributor of Commodity and Specialty Chemicals Buys Shares

A member of Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR)’s boardroom also bought a block of shares last week. Board member Edward J. Mooney snatched up a 3,500-share stake on Friday at prices that fell between $29.33 and $29.38 per share, a stake held directly by a trust fund called the Edward J. Mooney 1992 Trust. Mr. Mooney also holds a direct ownership stake of 7,462 shares.

The shares of the global distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals have gained 121% in the past year, recovering from a massive slide since its June 2015 IPO due to lower demand from the oil and gas markets. Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR)’s net sales for the September quarter were $2.00 billion, down by $206.6 million year-over-year. Despite completing a number of acquisitions, the company’s net sales decreased from reductions in sales of upstream oil and gas products driven by reduced market demand. The number of asset managers from our system with equity stakes in Univar rose to 24 from 17 during the third quarter. John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies L.P. held 1.15 million shares of Univar Inc. (NYSE:UNVR) at the end of September.

The final page of this article will discuss some insider selling reported with the SEC on Friday.

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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