SYNNEX, Hibbett Sports, and Alnylam Among 5 Stocks With Notable Insider Trading

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) EVP Unloads Shares

While one member of Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)’s Board bought shares last week, another member decided to sell some. Robert T. Fraley, ph.D., one of the company’s Executive Vice Presidents and its Chief Technology Officer, executed a number of trades last week, including exercising his stock options on 56,480 shares and selling those shares. More importantly (as we don’t report stock options activity on its own), he sold 24,151 shares on October 13 at an average price of $102.13. Mr. Fraley currently has a direct ownership stake of 38,711 shares, in addition to indirect ownership of 22,917 shares.

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) of course is in the process of being acquired by German company Bayer in a proposed $66 billion deal, so while some members of Monsanto’s executive team may feel confident in its acquisition, it’s not surprising to see others cash out of their shares. Executives from the two companies expect the deal to close by the end of next year. Mr. Fraley himself testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee on September 20, regarding consolidation and competition in the seed and chemicals industry, as regulators scrutinize the deal. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported ownership of 2,856 shares of Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) in its 13F filing for the September 30 reporting period.

Insider Buying at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) Following Tumble

After Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) shares took a huge hit earlier this month, the David E I Pyott Trust, of which one of the company’s Independent Directors, David Pyott, is a trustee, snatched up 27,900 shares at a price of $37.00 per share. Mr. Pyott now has indirect ownership of the same amount of shares following the Thursday transaction.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) sank by nearly 50% on October 6 after the company announced that it would no longer pursue one of its lead drug candidates, revusiran, after some concerning safety results emerged from a phase III trial of the treatment. While the company has some other promising treatments in its pipeline, the market has yet to show any forgiveness for the failure of revusiran. 25 hedge funds in our database were long Alnylam on June 30, down from 29 on March 31.

Small Insider Sale at Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)

There was a small insider sale at Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) last week from J. Michael Wilson, Executive Vice President – Quality and Reliability. Mr. Wilson sold 3,000 shares of his position in the company at an average price of $25.15 on October 14, lowering his direct ownership position to 78,284 shares.

After an extended run from mid-February through early-October, Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) shares have slid by over 10% after it lowered its third quarter GAAP revenue estimate to $130 million-to-$138 million on October 5, down by $4 million at both ends of the range. The adjustment was the result of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) being granted a warrant to purchase just under 1.09 million shares of Semtech at $0.01 each as part of a network coverage deal between the two companies. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors sold off its 17,024 shares of Semtech during the third quarter, a position which it had just opened during the second quarter.

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