Retired CEO of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NBTB) Offloads Shares, Plus Other Exciting Insider Trading

History shows that corporate insiders’ purchases of their companies’ stock tend to beat stock market gauges on aggregate. Corporate insiders usually purchase shares for one simple reason – they believe their companies’ shares are greatly undervalued by Mr. Market or there are great opportunities for their companies going forward. This line of thought appears to make perfect sense, as it is quite hard to come up with other explanations on why insiders would spend their hard-earned money to buy securities in their own companies (putting more of their eggs in one basket). Insiders may also purchase shares because of stock ownership guidelines imposed by their companies, which require executives and Board members to own a certain amount of equity, though this would mainly apply just to freshly appointed executives.

On the other hand, corporate insiders sell shares for a wide variety of reasons beyond just their companies’ current developments or future prospects, partly owing to the increased usage of equity-based compensation. Nonetheless, heavy insider selling, particularly in the form of clusters of selling, may serve as an indication that insiders believe their company’s share price is approaching or even exceeding a ‘correct’ or ‘fair’ value. That said, let’s look into several noteworthy insider transactions reported with the SEC on Thursday.

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Insiders Stand Behind South Carolina Bank’s Acquisition Strategy

Five insiders at Carolina Financial Corp (NASDAQ:CARO) recently purchased shares through an underwritten public offering, so let’s have a quick look at the most noteworthy purchases. To start with, Daniel H. Isaac Jr., Director of Carolina Financial since 2001, snapped up 8,036 shares on Wednesday at $28 apiece, lifting his overall holding to 78,787 shares. Meanwhile, Board member Claudius E. Watts IV bought 5,000 shares through the offering, a purchase that boosted his ownership to 69,181 shares.

The parent company of South Carolina state-chartered bank CresCom Bank plans to use the $47.7 million in proceeds from the offering to support organic and acquisitive growth, as well as for general corporate purposes. In early-November, Carolina Financial Corp (NASDAQ:CARO) agreed to acquire Greer Bancshares Incorporated, which operates four banking locations in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin area, in a $45.1 million cash-and-stock transaction. Greer shareholders are set to receive $18 in cash and 0.782 shares of Carolina Financial for each Greer share at closing. Carolina Financial shares have gained 84% in the past year. Anton Schutz’s Mendon Capital Advisors owned around 103,000 shares of Carolina Financial Corp (NASDAQ:CARO) at the end of September.

The discussion on the next two pages will revolve around the fresh insider buying and selling at four other companies.

Executive at Battered Biopharmaceutical Company Purchases Shares

One member of Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX)’s management team piled up some shares earlier this week. Robert Janssen, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Clinical Development, bought 6,000 shares on Tuesday at a price tag of $4.04 each. Following the recent purchase, Dr. Janssen currently owns an aggregate of 12,048 shares.

The shares of the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company have plunged by 83% in the past year. Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX)’s shares took a serious hit in early-November after the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for the company’s experimental hepatitis B vaccine, called Heplisav-B. One should know that the FDA issues CRLs to communicate the completion of a review cycle of an application and to request additional information for review and approval. Although the FDA did not require additional clinical trials and Heplisav appears to be approvable, Dynavax said its resources may not be sufficient to advance the Heplisav-B program on its own. Therefore, the vaccine’s revenue potential could possibly end up in the pockets of potential partners in exchange for upfront milestone payments or royalties. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management reported owning 1.75 million shares of Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) through the round of 13F filings for the third quarter.

CEO of Clinical-Stage RNAi Company Keeps Buying Shares

After purchasing a 10,000-share block a little more than a week ago, the man in charge of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:RXII) bought more shares this week. President and CEO Geert Cauwenbergh purchased an additional block of 10,000 shares on Wednesday at an average price of $0.70 per share. After the purchase, Dr. Cauwenbergh currently owns a total of 72,583 shares.

The shares of the clinical-stage RNAi company have plummeted by 76% in the past 12 months, so the spike in insider buying appears to be a natural occurrence. So-called RNAi therapies are designed to ‘silence’ the expression of a specific gene that may be over-expressed in a disease condition. Just recently, RXi Pharmaceuticals completed the acquisition of privately-held MirImmune, which develops next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. The freshly-completed acquisition of MirImmune represents the first step into the field of cell-based therapies for RXi. Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital was the equity holder of 316,010 shares of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:RXII) on September 30.

On the final page we’ll shift our focus towards some noteworthy insider selling observed at two other companies.

Several Insiders at Frozen Foods Maker Offload Shares Through Secondary Offering

One large shareholder and a number of members of AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc. (NYSE:APFH)’s management team offloaded shares through a secondary offering this week, so let’s have a brief look at some of the most voluminous sales. To start with, Chief Financial Officer Michael B. Sims discarded 77,669 shares on Tuesday at $27 apiece, cutting his overall holding to 530,462 shares. CEO John N. Simons Jr., who steps down from the role of CEO on March 31, unloaded 295,806 shares through the offering. Mr. Simons currently owns an aggregate of 1.74 million shares following the recent sale. Chief Operating Officer George F. Chappelle Jr. liquidated 72,121 shares via the offering, cutting his stake to 499,025 shares.

The private equity-backed frozen foods maker went public in July by offering 18.6 million shares at $21 apiece, while its shares are currently trading above the $27-level. Just recently, the producer and distributor of sandwiches, sandwich components and other entrées and snacks announced plans to refinance virtually all of its debt load. AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc. (NYSE:APFH) said it plans to issue $350 million in debt to pay down a portion of a loan on which the company owes $1.1 billion. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors had 1.19 million shares of AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc. (NYSE:APFH) in its portfolio at the end of September.

Retired CEO of NBT Bancorp Offloads Shares After Earnings Release

There was some noteworthy insider selling at NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) this week as well. Chairman Martin A. Dietrich, who stepped down from his role as CEO in December, sold 25,000 shares on Wednesday at prices varying from $41.00 to $42.08 per share. Mr. Dietrich holds a direct ownership stake of 124,494 shares after the recent sale.

The financial holding company that operates through full-services community bank NBT Bank, N.A. and two financial services companies, has seen the value of its shares rise by 65% in the past year. The Chairman’s sale comes shortly after NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) released its financial results for the fourth quarter. The bank reported record net income for the fourth-consecutive year, posting a bottom-line figure of $78.4 million for 2016 versus $76.4 million posted for 2015. A mere four asset managers tracked in our system were invested in NBT Bancorp at the end of the third quarter. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management was one of them, owning 255,403 shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) at the end of the September quarter.

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