in addition to the tech weakness, part of IOM's problem was, possibly this article today. Anchor Gaming is one of Cabot's big picks. Notice that whenever one of Cabot's big picks takes a hit, several of his picks trend down in sympathy. Note, this is related only to Cabot induced shareholders (Gary, we all need your optimism, thanks for the report)
15:26 DJS Anchor Gaming Shares Tumbling On News Of Insider Stock Sales
5:26 DJS Anchor Gaming Shares Tumbling On News Of Insider Stock Sales
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Shares of Anchor Gaming Inc. tumbled Wednesday
as investors followed the lead of the slot-machine company's founder and sold
their shares.
At the close, shares of Las Vegas-based Anchor Gaming (SLOT) were off
$11.75, or 16%, at $64.25. Volume of more than one million shares far
outstripped the daily average of about 256,000.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Anchor six weeks ago
completed an offering of stock at $91 a share in which Anchor's chairman,
chief executive and founder, Stanley Fulton, 66, his family and four Anchor
executives sold stock after exercising options.
The sale of 1.8 million shares, valued at $158.7 million, ranked among
the five largest for the month of October, according to CDA/Investnet, a Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., insider-research company.
Fulton sold 657,700 shares and his daughter, son and ex-wife sold a
total of 467,800 shares.
The sale, the Journal reported, reduced the Fulton family's ownership
of the company - which has a total stock-market value of about $1 billion - to
about 37% from 52%.
In addition, Thomas Matthews, Anchor's executive vice president,
exercised options and sold 12,500 shares, for a 31% reduction in his personal
stake. Joseph Murphy, Anchor's vice president in charge of casino operations,
exercised options and sold 7,500 shares, for a 37% drop in his personal
holdings. Director Stuart Beath sold 2,000 shares, for a two-thirds decline.
And Geoffrey Sage, Anchor's controller, exercised options and sold 2,500
shares, reducing his stake to zero.
"Sometimes the actions of the supporting cast of insiders are more
telling," Bob Gabele, president of CDA/Investnet, told the Journal. "The
lower-level insiders tend to make decisions to protect their personal net
worth."
Sage and Matthews told the Journal that Anchor insiders typically sell
their company stock and exercise options at this time of year.
The sales are ""not any indication that the executives have bullish or
bearish thoughts about the company," Sage added.
Some analysts, meanwhile, remain bullish on Anchor. Todd Jordan,
analyst at Raymond James & Associates, which helped underwrite the recent
stock sale, has a "buy" rating on the stock and expects it to vault to $119
within the next 12 months, the Journal reported.
Jordan noted, however, that the stock is "very volatile."
The Las Vegas company owns and operates two Colorado casinos, operates
a gambling machine route in Nevada and develops proprietary games for casinos.
Quoting analysts and others, the Journal article reported that such Anchor
games as Wheel of Gold face increasing competition, which could hamper machine
sales to casinos.
Copyright (c) 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
12/03 3:26p CSTEOF |
