Starbucks (SBUX), Wyndham (WYND), Aptiv (APTV): Insider Buys of the Week

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV)

Who Bought Shares: Director Frank Dellaquilla

How Many Shares Were Bought: 750 @ $89.00 per share

Date of the Transaction(s): August 23

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) Director Frank Dellaquilla’s purchase of 750 shares was the first by an insider since he himself purchased 500 shares six months earlier. Mr. Dellaquilla now has direct ownership of 4,818 Aptiv shares. Mr. Dellaquilla, who serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR), joined Aptiv’s board in December 2017.

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) recently celebrated its 5,000th self-driving public ride in partnership with ride-hailing app Lyft. The companies have offered the self-driving transportation service along select routes in Las Vegas since May, with the vehicles being monitored by two safety personnel in the front seats. The service has been nearly unanimously praised by riders, with 96% stating they would use the autonomous ride service again. Aptiv, formerly Delphi Automotive, pulled in $3.7 billion in revenue in Q2 and earned $1.40 per share, with both figures topping estimates.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Who Bought Shares: Group President & COO Rosalind (Roz) Brewer

How Many Shares Were Bought: 5,000 @ $54.04 per share

Date of the Transaction(s): August 20

It had been a year since a Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) insider had purchased shares until Group President & COO Rosalind (Roz) Brewer did so on August 20. Ms. Brewer, who has the perfect family name for a coffee chain employee, joined Starbucks in 2017 after a successful decade-long run with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and its warehouse division Sam’s Club, which landed her on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2016. Ms. Brewer now has direct ownership of 7,302 Starbucks shares.

Those Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) shares have slumped by nearly 10% in 2018 and have stalled over the past three years after a torrid run from 2009 to 2015. Piper Jaffray recently cut Starbucks to a ‘Neutral’ rating after pegging it a ‘Buy’ for three years, citing a lack of short-term catalysts and suggesting the stock will be no better than range-bound until trends improve in the U.S. In China, which is now home to the largest Starbucks location in the world, there is both optimism for growth and a dose of caution when it comes to potential protectionist measures. Starbucks is now trading at its lowest multiple in over a decade and has a 2.67% forward dividend yield.

Disclosure: None