CEO and Insider Selling at 3D Systems

By Jon C. Ogg Published Mar 18, 10:25AM EDT

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Shares of 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) may have lost more than one-third of their value from the peak, but Wall Street is so far ignoring news that the CEO and insiders have sold shares recently. SEC filings after the close of trading on Monday and in recent days show the sales to be worth noting when you tally up the numbers from the past week or so.

As a reminder, just because CEOs and insiders sell shares it does not mean that something is wrong. Insider selling is often for tax purposes, estate planning and many other reasons.

The filing from Monday evening showed that CEO Abraham Reichental sold 66,700 shares on March 14 at $60.11 per share, for a total of $4.009 million. His direct ownership remains 1,545,112 shares.

Andrew Johnson, listed as general counsel, also sold 1,500 shares at $60.86 for $91,290 on March 14. His number of shares owned was 101,150.

Filings from last week also show even more insider selling elsewhere.

Walter Loewenbaum, a director, sold 450 shares on March 13, and he is shown to have 1,025,885 direct shares. Prior to that, a sale was listed on approximately March 5 — 75,000 shares were registered for sale under a form 144 for restricted stock.

Cathy Lewis, vice president, sold 6,000 shares for $375,180, and she still has some 73,500 shares directly owned.

Another Loewenbaum family trust registered 50,000 shares for sale, also on a Form 144 for restricted stock. That gives 90 days to sell the shares.

Again, insider selling is not always a sign of anything bad. Still, when it comes to 3D printing and hot sectors that have gone cold, investors should always at least pay attention to any corporate governance and insider selling news.

Wall Street is rallying 3D Systems’ shares along with the broader market on Tuesday. In the first hour of trading, 3D Systems shares were up 2.6% to $62.90, against a 52-week range of $28.61 to $97.28.

About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.