Typically the week before the Fourth of July holiday starts to really slow down as traders leave town. Last week was a departure from the norm as Greece and end of the quarter window dressing kept volatility and volumes somewhat higher. Toss in the nonfarm payroll data that came out on Thursday, and some were forced to stay right to the final bell. Insiders did sell stocks, but the volume was very tepid compared to June.
We cover insider selling every week at 24/7 Wall St., and we like to always remind our readers that just because an individual or 10% institutional owner sells stock, that is no cause for immediate alarm. Many top executives, and even directors, are compensated with stock and often sell just to diversify or purchase other assets.
Here are the companies that reported notable insider selling this past week.
Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) saw a ton of stock hit the sell tape this week. A director at the company sold 307,000 shares at prices that ranged from $82.02 to $83.55 per share. The total for the sale came to healthy $25.4 million. Adobe is a diversified software company worldwide. It operates in three segments: Digital Media, Digital Marketing and Print and Publishing. Shares closed trading on Thursday at $80.75, so a well-timed sale indeed.
ALSO READ: Insider Buying Jumps During Holiday Shortened Week
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) had an executive vice president at the semiconductor capital equipment giant selling stock this past week. That EVP parted with a total of 164,000 shares of the stock at a price of $20.14 apiece. The total for the sale came to $3.3 million. Applied Materials ended trading on Thursday at $19.61. Also, the stock was one of Merrill Lynch’s top catalyst-driven ideas for the rest of 2015.
Memorial Resource Development Corp. (NASDAQ: MRD) had a member of a 13D group that owns more than 10% of the company selling a large chunk of stock. Joseph Wyszynski shed a total of 245,000 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $18.41 to $18.72. The total for the sale came to $4.6 million. Memorial Resource is an independent natural gas and oil company that focuses on the acquisition, exploitation and development of natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil properties, primarily in northern Louisiana. Shares ended the week at $18.86.
These were the only sizable insider selling trades reported last week, a huge drop-off from what we have seen over the first half of 2015. As we have mentioned, with the second-quarter earnings season starting up this week, many insiders that want to buy or sell stock have possibly had those transaction windows closed, and they will be unable to buy or sell shares again until later in July or even August.
ALSO READ: 4 Merrill Lynch Catalyst-Driven Stock Ideas to Buy Now
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