Edward Noonan (Insider Trades), CEO and chairman of Validus Holdings Ltd. (VR, Financial), sold 273,000 shares of the company on Dec. 12. The average price per share was $55.40 for a total transaction of $15,124,200. Validus, a holding company for reinsurance and insurance operating companies, has a market cap of $4.48 billion.
Noonan commented that he had “not sold a single share of Validus stock” since the founding of the company, however, was inclined to make the aforementioned transaction due to “liquidity purposes in order to pay tax obligations.” Noonan also has not increased his stake in the company since 2013.
Directors Michael Carpenter (Insider Trades) and Matthew Grayson (Insider Trades) also sold shares. Carpenter sold 14,031 shares at an average per share price of $55.39 on Dec. 7. Grayson sold 10,000 shares for an average per share price of $56.05 on Dec. 8. Since 2013, the company’s month-end price and number of insider sales follows an increasing trendline. For more information about insider transactions with Validus Holdings, click here.
The company reported net income of $89.8 million, or $1.11 per share of common stock, for the third quarter. Net income increased in comparison to the previous year’s third quarter, when the company reported net income of $66.7 million, or 78 cents per share of common stock. Noonan stated that the company delivered favorable results for the quarter, but because of current market conditions as of October 2016, the company seeks to “reduce exposure in areas under the most competitive pressure – notably marine and energy and certain property classes – while continuing to expand [its] profile in U.S. insurance and the management of third party capital.” Validus' fiscal net income follows an increasing trendline, increasing 24.54% since 2011. For more financial statistics on Validus Holdings Ltd., click here.
On Dec. 1, Validus’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Talbot Underwriting Ltd., announced a dedicated team of cyber underwriters. The team consists of Phil Mayes and Gillian Anderson, who both hold experience in the insurance sector.
According to GuruFocus, Validus Holdings Ltd. has a business predictability rank of 1 out of 5 stars. For more information about business predictability rank, click here.
During the third quarter, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) reduced his stake in Validus while Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) increased his stake in the company. Cohen sold 132,800 shares of the company for an average per share price of $49.69, reducing his stake by 75.80%. Cohen has reduced his stake by at leas 19% each quarter since the fourth quarter of 2015. The total estimated gain of the holding since the initial purchase of 350,500 shares in the third quarter of 2015 is 7%.
Simons, on the other hand, increased his stake by 61.15%, acquiring 101,800 shares at an average per share price of $49.69. In the previous quarter, Simons sold 94,600 shares at an average per share price of $46.91. The total estimated gain of the holding since the fourth quarter of 2015 is 12%. For more information about guru trades with Validus Holdings, click here.
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