Sizable Insider Purchases At American Express (AXP), 2 Other Companies Amid Declining Insider Confidence

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE:TSS) had four insiders purchase different-sized blocks of shares this past week. To begin with, Director James H. Blanchard acquired a 12,500-share block on Friday at prices that ranged from $40.00 to $40.02 per share. The Director currently holds a direct ownership stake of 72,564 shares. William M. Isaac, another member of the company’s Board of Directors, snapped up 5,200 shares on the same day at a price of $38.62 per share, increasing his total stake to 8,549 shares. 3,000 shares were also purchased by Director Connie D. McDaniel on the same day, lifting her holding to 6,349 shares. The 3,000-share block was acquired at $38.57 apiece. Last but not least, Director John T. Turner reported purchasing a 530-share stake on Friday, which is held by a living trust. The Director also holds a direct ownership stake of 12,950 units of common stock.

The exploding insider buying comes after the payment processor released its somewhat disappointing fourth-quarter earnings report and announced the acquisition of merchant solutions provider TransFirst from Vista Equity Partners for $2.35 billion. The all-cash deal will make TSS the sixth-largest U.S merchant acquirer by revenue; however, investors are worried about the financing of the deal and its effects on the company’s balance sheet. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit and debt ratings for TSS to BBB- from BBB+, citing increased leverage as a result of the aforementioned acquisition. The shares of TSS are 19% in the red year-to-date, but are up by 12% over the past year. The sentiment towards the stock among the elite investors that we track was very positive in the third quarter, as the number of funds with positions in the company climbed to 25 from 18 quarter-over-quarter. Alkeon Capital Management, founded by Panayotis Takis Sparaggis, acquired a 507,220-share stake in Total System Services Inc. (NYSE:TSS) during the July-to-September period.

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