General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff both sold millions of dollars worth of their own stock in the waning days of May, according to securities filings and information compiled by VerityData. Barra sold more than $27 million worth of stock on May 28, joining several other GM insiders who have done similar trades this year. Meanwhile, Benioff sold more than $12 million worth of shares over the course of several days.
Both execs made the sale as part of 10b5-1 trading plans. Those plans are filed with regulators ahead of time to set out when an executive will trade shares in the coming months and years.
Benioff’s sales in this data summary from Verity took place on May 24, 28, and 29. The Salesforce CEO had been selling stock consistently over recent periods, and subsequent filings showed that he made another sale on May 30. Salesforce released its first-quarter report after the market closed on May 29. The stock fell more than 19% the following day.
Insider buying and selling is tracked closely by many professional fund managers. The idea is that these trades could possibly be a signal about what an exec or board member thinks of the direction of the company or the valuation of the stock.
Here are the biggest insider sales in the final days of May, according to VerityData and securities filings:
- General Motors: CEO Barra sold 626,300 shares at an average price of $43.46 for a total of $27.22 million.
- Salesforce: CEO Benioff sold 45,000 shares at an average price of $270.70 for a total of $12.18 million.
- Squarespace: CEO Anthony Casalena sold 135,100 shares at an average price of $43.50 for a total of $5.88 million.
- Applied Materials: CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares at an average price of $222.34 for a total of $4.45 million.
- Texas Roadhouse: CEO Gerald Morgan sold 15,000 shares at an average price of $171.70 for a total of $2.58 million.
