Anyone looking for large-scale buying action as the reporting season draws to a close would have been disappointed with only $2.3 million of directors' buying showing up in the accompanying table this week.
Of course, there were some acquisitions by directors whose companies reported; Primary Health Care chief Edmund Bateman supported his stock when it was pummelled by punters after the company reported lower than expected earnings.
The stock was at $5.55 before the report was released last week and closed yesterday at $4.39.
Bateman bought stock on the way down, paying $4.89 a share, in what, for him, was a relatively modest 100,000-share transaction. His stake in the company is worth $158 million.
Elsewhere, OZ Minerals managing director Terry Burgess wasted little time adding to his holding in the company.
On Thursday, he reported a strong performance from the Prominent Hill mine, a strong balance sheet position and a "competitive cost structure" and that very day he instructed his broker to buy him stock at $1.06.
Anyone who wants to piggyback Burgess can do so now at a couple of pennies below what he paid.
Also buying following an earnings report was Simon Calleia, a former managing director of Credit Corp, a debt collection group. Now a non-executive director, he added to his 2 million or so share stake at $3 a share - about the same price that chairman Don McLay recently paid.
The scrip got a touch of the wobbles yesterday; after opening 3¢ lower at $2.90, it fell to $2.75 and, with the closing bell not far off, firmed to close 1¢ down at $2.92.
Directors selling overwhelmed those buying. The overall selling tally in the table was $73 million, with two directors of Whitehaven Coal accounting for more than half that.
Managing director Tony Haggarty and business development director Andy Plummer have presided over a five-bagger in little more than one year.
The shares back then were at $1 and a day or two ago the two directors unloaded big lines of stock through UBS, which placed them with institutions at $4.66 a share.
The sales were made to finance the exercise of options. And a mighty profitable option conversion it was.
In January, Plummer exercised two options over 7.3 million shares at $1 each and Haggarty's interests will shortly exercise his options. The two directors have taken a little more money off the table than that required by the conversions, but they retain more than $300 million worth of stock.
Elsewhere, Coca-Cola Amatil chief Terry Davis disposed of nearly $5 million of stock, while Don Meij of Domino's Pizza collected more than $800,000 when he sold stock at $5.13. The stock recently hit a record $5.50 high.
