Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) and Two Other Giant Companies with Intensive Insider Selling

The Insider Selling Activity at This Industrial Giant Gains Steam

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) saw three different officers unload shares this week, but two of them sold solely freshly-exercised stock options. Thomas A. Szlosek, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, sold 28,317 shares on Wednesday at prices ranging from $114.81 to $114.91 per share, trimming his ownership to 35,323 shares.

The aforementioned insider sale comes shortly after the industrial conglomerate posted better-than-anticipated first-quarter financial results on Friday and announced a $5 billion share buyback program on Monday. Honeywell raised the low-end of its revenue and earnings per share guidance for 2016, which makes us believe the company appears is well on track to register the seventh consecutive year of higher EPS results. The industrial giant anticipates full-year 2016 sales in the range of $40.3 billion-to-$40.9 billion, which implies a year-over-year growth of 4%-to-6%. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to fall in the range of $6.55-to-$6.70, which would mark an increase of 7%-to-10%. Several weeks ago, Honeywell International decided to abandon its $90 billion-offer to acquire industrial peer United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), after facing strong opposition from the target, antitrust regulators and major customers. Instead, Honeywell’s Board authorized the repurchase of up to $5 billion worth of shares.

Soon after the release of the company’s first-quarter earnings report, numerous financial hubs raised their price targets on the industrial giant. For instance, analysts at Jefferies reiterated the ‘Buy’ rating on Honeywell and raised the price target to $130 from $120. Similarly, Oppenheimer increased the price target to $128 from $120, while RBC Capital Markets upped the target to $122 from $121. Honeywell shares are up 10% year-to-date. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported owning 418,639 shares of Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) in the latest round of 13Fs.