Nike Inc. (NKE), Resonant Inc. (RESN) and Angie’s List Inc. (ANGI) Witness Insider Buying

Angie’s List Had One Director Buy Shares Amid Freemium Offering Implementation

Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ:ANGI) saw one Board member buy a sizable block of shares earlier this week. Director Michael S. Maurer purchased 12,000 units of common stock on Monday at prices varying from $8.25 to $8.30 per share, boosting his ownership to 173,211 shares. The shares of the operator of a national local services consumer review service and marketplace are trading significantly above their 52-week low of $3.73 touched in July 2015, but they continue to trade significantly below their all-time high of nearly $30 in the summer of 2013.

The company currently generates revenue from both service providers and members, but the share of membership revenue as a percentage of revenue has been on a decline and is anticipated to keep declining as the company recently introduced a free membership tier for consumers for the first time. The newly-launched freemium offering has shown promising results, with logins, searches, contract value and reviews increasing relative to those metrics registered in the company’s control markets. Member additions and total engagement on the online review website have increased considerably since the launch of the freemium offering.

Equity research, sales and trading firm MKM Partners LLC believes that Angie’s List “could be a $30 to $38 stock in three years with a lengthy growth cycle ahead as the leading and perhaps only digital marketplace for home services” should be management be successful. The company introduced the so-called long-term profitably growth plan in early 2016, which will remove the ratings and review paywall and introduce tiers of freemium and premium services, but some investors fear this change would not make Angie’s List more competitive. Eric Semler’s TCS Capital Management had 5.92 million shares of Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ:ANGI) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.

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