Key Insider Buy Driving Pandora Shares

President, Chairman and CEO Brian McAndrews has bought 25,000 shares at a volume weighted average price of $18.5838, in from multiple transactions at prices ranging from $18.525 to $18.5599 on November 12. McAndrews now holds some 475,392 in direct ownership of shares.

What is interesting here is that the move seems counterintuitive on the surface. This transaction was valued at $464,595 in open market purchases. The purchase was not seen until Thursday evening, and the gain in the stock was more than 11% in early Friday. With a market cap of $4.3 billion, that means that this McAndrews’ purchase of $464,595 translated to well over $400 million in market cap.

There was other news on Thursday that may contribute to the Pandora gains. The company said that it will host a conference call on Tuesday, November 18, to discuss the current Web IV proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board. That call will be hosted by Mike Herring, Pandora’s CFO, and Chris Harrison, Pandora VP Business Affairs and Associate General Counsel.

Sometimes insider buying is overlooked. Sometimes it isn’t. This case is one in which it sure has helped in making a big move in the stock.

Pandora shares were up 11.8% at $20.65 on Friday morning, against a 52-week trading range of $17.55 to $40.44. The consensus analyst price target is still all the way up above $31. That $18.45 closing price on Thursday was just five days after that 52-week low.

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