Two Buys and a Sell

First Call/Thomson Financial Insiders' Chronicle, July 26, 1999

We've been watching the activity at Neose Technologies Inc. (NTEC). The company has been hard at work developing methods for the enzymatic synthesis of complex carbohydrates. As for the insiders, it's hard to say whether they're carb-loading themselves, but we can tell you that they've been loading up on company stock. On June 25, as pan of general company fundraising effort, seven insiders purchased a total of 156,400 shares at $9.50 per share. Leading the way was Director Lindsay Rosenwald who picked up 110,000 shares. On the one hand, it only stands to reason that company executives might take pan in such a financing. On the other hand, this particular show of support is impressive: a full ten percent of the total funds raised came from company insiders.

On the other side of the fence, let's toss something new into the Corner--insider sales. Insiders at Kofax Image Productions (KOFX) are reducing their actionable positions as the stock price climbs higher. From May 5 through June 1, three insiders exercised options for and then sold a combined 32,637 shares at prices ranging from $8.43 to $9.25 apiece. The last time executives at Kofax threw a sell-off the stock price dropped almost 13%, although it has since recovered. The magnitude of the sales isn't exactly overwhelming, nor are they as copious even as the ones in February. Still, one has to wonder if the pattern will repeat itself. We'll let you know.

Back on the buy-side, Northrim Bank Alaska (NRIM) has garnered a lot of support from analysts as well as its own insiders. The stock has recovered somewhat after heading south over the last year. Company directors are eating it up. From May 6 through June 18, five insiders bought a total of 10,175 shares at prices ranging from $10.75 to $11.63 per share. Interestingly, these buys coincide with favorable reactions from analysts after NRIM reported a 15% increase in 2Q income. For what it's worth, we've liked what we've seen from the insiders at a number of regional banks, including Bank West (BWE). Is NRIM, too, on its way out of the cold? It's hard to say, but both the insiders and the analysts appear to be warming up.