I have been mildly bearish on ABI for a few months now (Trickle took a buck and ran in the $18s). The stock kept going in the absence of credible recovery in its markets. Now this:
>>ABI Execs Awarded Over $1.2M in Stock, Cash Them Out
By Marian Moser Jones
NEW YORK, July 15 - Less than two weeks before Applied Biosystems' announcement of its fourth quarter and end-of-fiscal year earnings, eleven of the company's top executives received and cashed out stock bonuses totaling over $1.2 million, according to insider trading forms filed with the US Securities and Exchange commission today.
The executives acquired the stock in the form of performance units, which are awarded for the fiscal year either in cash or in common stock, should the company stock price reach and stay at or above $18.54 for a specified time period, the filings state. The performance units were initially awarded in March, according to a company spokesperson, but these filings reflect the portion that was vested in July.
The executives did not receive similar bonuses at the end of fiscal year 2002.
All ten of the executives chose to receive these performance unit bonuses in stock, and sell equivalent amounts of stock from their holdings at a share price of about $19.70 the same day, according to the filings.
The filings indicate that Tony White, CEO, chairman and president of ABI's parent Applera, was awarded 15,780 shares in performance units, then sold this number of shares- a sale that would gross him a total of over $310,787 in cash. Michael Hunkapiller, president of ABI, William Sawch; senior vice president and general counsel of Applera, and Dennis Winger, senior vice president and CFO of ABI, were each awarded 7,890 shares, then sold the same number, each sale being worth $157,523 in cash.
Additionally, Patrick Carroll, senior vice president of worldwide sales and service for ABI, Robert Ragusa, senior vice president, global operations of ABI, and Barbara Kerr, vice president of human resources at ABI, were each awarded and sold 3,945 shares - a sale worth $78,761.93 in cash; Deborah Smeltzer, vice president of ABI's knowledge business, and Robert Jones, ABI's vice president of R&D, were each awarded and sold 2,958 shares - a $58,257 cash sale; Ugo Deblasi, vice president and controller of ABI, and Sandeep Nayyar, vice president and controller of ABI, were each awarded and sold 1,972 shares to gain over $38,838 in cash each.
Applied Biosystems' parent Applera plans to announce its end-of year and fourth-quarter financials on July 23. <<
Cheers, Tuck |
