Bill Ackman Makes Massive Canadian Pacific Railway Insider Sell, Plus Under Armour, Intel, Philip Morris and More

What a wild and woolly week. Between earnings pouring in, huge deals and some nervous commentary from Carl Icahn, investors had more than enough on their plates for sure. Insiders looking to sell shares are starting to emerge from the sidelines as quiet periods are ending. With earnings starting to wind down, we expect that buyers and sellers will start to emerge in the next few weeks.

We cover insider selling every week at 24/7 Wall St., and we like to remind readers that just because an individual or 10% institutional owner is selling 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 companies that reported notable insider selling this past week.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP) had a gigantic seller last week. Activist investor and the head of Pershing Square Capital, Bill Ackman, sold a gigantic position. Ackman’s firm parted with a total of 4,100,000 shares at $148 apiece. The total for the trade was a humongous $600 million. The company operates a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States and offers rail and intermodal transportation services over a track network of approximately 12,500 miles, serving the business centers of Canada from Montreal to Vancouver and the United States Midwest and Northeast regions. In addition, the company provides truck-rail transload facilities and logistics services. Shares closed on Friday at $144.25, so the timing of the sale looked good.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) had the chairman of the semiconductor giant selling stock this past week. Andy Bryant shed a total of 185,470 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $31.93 to $32.05. The total for the sale came in at $6 million. Intel designs, manufactures and sells integrated digital technology platforms worldwide. It operates through Client Computing Group, Data Center Group, Internet of Things Group, Software and Services and All Other segments. The stock closed Friday at $30.28.
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Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) had an officer of the company, an executive vice president and a unit president all selling shares this past week. The trio sold a total of 109,884 shares at prices that ranged from $44.38 to $46.47. The total for the sale was posted at $11 million. The company develops, markets and distributes branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth, primarily in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The stock closed Friday at $43.94.

Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. (NYSE: FBHS) saw the CEO Christopher Klein and a unit president at the company sell shares. The pair parted with a total of 190,000 shares at prices that ranged from $57.04 to $57.27 per share. The total for the trade came to $11 million. The company provides home and security products for use in residential home repair, remodeling, new construction and security applications. The stock closed Friday at $55.41, so here too the timing looks good.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) had the chairman of the firm selling shares this week. The chairman shed some 33,340 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $96.93 to $97.03. The total for the sale was posted at $3 million. The company manufactures and sells cigarettes, other tobacco products and other nicotine-containing products. Its portfolio of brands includes Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, L&M, Philip Morris, Bond Street, Chesterfield, Muratti, and Red & White. The shares closed Friday at $98.12, so some left on the table for sure.

In recent weeks, we have reported zero insider selling, so this week’s action was a step up. While still very low by normal standards, we should see volume start to spike as the first-quarter earnings reports close out soon.