Massive Cluster of Insider Selling at Semiconductor-Equipment Maker After Call-Off of Buyout Deal, Plus Insider Trading at AT&T, Delta, More

CAO and CEO of Second-Largest U.S Airline by Traffic Discard Shares

Two influential and well-informed executives at Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) discarded shares earlier this week. Edward H. Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer of Delta Air Lines for nearly half-a-year after stepping into the role in early-May, offloaded 50,000 shares on Wednesday at $41.25 apiece, trimming his ownership stake to 232,302 shares. Craig M. Meynard, Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President since November 2012, sold 3,500 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $41.41 and $41.42 per share. After the recent sale, Mr. Maynard currently owns an aggregate of 11,077 shares.

The shares of the second-largest U.S. airline by traffic have taken a serious beating this year, as the stock is down by 17% year-to-date. The airline’s recent earnings report showed that it experienced a disappointing summer season. Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL)’s passenger revenue for the September quarter was $9.07 billion, a decrease of 5.5% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the passenger revenue per available seat mile decreased by a disturbing 6.8%, with one percentage point of the PRASM decrease being related to a technology outage in August. David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management upped its position in Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) by 9% during the third quarter, to 286,296 shares.

Massive Cluster of Insider Selling at KLA-Tencor

Six different executives at KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC) unloaded shares this week, a massive cluster of insider selling that should receive some attention from the investment community. Without further ado, let’s have a brief look at some of the insider transactions. To start with, Executive Vice President Michael D. Kirk sold 19,750 shares on Tuesday at prices varying from $74.47 to $74.64 per share, as well as offered 834 shares as a gift on the very same day. Following these transactions, Mr. Kirk currently owns 445 shares of common stock along with an additional 66,092 restricted stock units. Virendra A. Kirloskar, Chief Accounting Officer and Senior Vice President, offloaded 8,006 shares on the same day at a weighted average price of $74.51 per share, a sale that cut the CAO’s ownership stake to 297 shares. Executive Vice President Bobby R. Bell liquidated 7,682 shares on Tuesday at $74.47 apiece, reducing his overall ownership to 12,778 shares. Bren D. Higgins, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, offloaded 4,812 shares on the same day for $74.94 each. After the sale, Mr. Higgins currently owns 4,610 shares.

The massive cluster of insider selling comes shortly after semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) terminated its $10.6 billion deal to buy KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC) after the U.S. Department of Justice communicated that it had serious concerns that the deal would harm competition. Lam Research agreed to acquire KLA-Tencor for $67.02 per share last October amid a broader wave of consolidation in the chip industry. The shares of KLA-Tencor are 7% in the green this year. Algert Coldiron Investors, run by Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron, owns 48,043 shares of KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC) as of September 30.

Disclosure: None