On the afternoon of Friday May 24, the chairman of Chinese agricultural stock Dongfang Modern Agricultural (ASX: DFM) Hongwei Cai bought $4.23 million in shares.

Then on Tuesday the 28th, he bought another $274,821. Now he now holds over 68 per cent of the company.

Dongfang has had an outstanding few years with an $84 million profit last year and record harvest figures. But the company believe it can continue to grow.

Ir recently acquired local food supplements business Bio Health and is tripling the size of its manufacturing facility. It’s also continuing to grow its orchards in China.

The miners were buyers as well…

One common pitch of companies seeking business with or in China is the country’s growing middle class. This is true whether you’re a fruit grower or a miner seeking to sell to steel producers.

Zircon exporter Image Resources (ASX: IMA) announced last week it had signed its first offtake agreements with Chinese companies. Only a couple of days later, director Li Huang Cheng bought $462,500.

Despite the uncertainty of the Italian oil and gas industry, three Po Valley Energy (ASX: PVE) directors participated in a $1.2 million placement. Michael Masterman bought $224,000 and Byron Pirola and Kevin Bailey bought $100,000 each.

While the directors had agreed last December, the shareholders only signed off this week. Any placement affecting more than 15 per cent of the company has to be approved by shareholders. That is why you might see companies raise capital in distinct “tranches”.

One other director bought over a million dollars this week – Jupiter Mines director Priyank Thapliyal (ASX: JMS). Unlike Hongwei, he is a small shareholder only holding 2.93 per cent despite the trade.

While Jupiter is only 35.5 cents, in the last month three firms have tipped Jupiter for growth. Fosters Stockbroking, Cantor Fitzgerald and Hartleys set target prices of 61 cents, 65 cents and 42 cents respectively.

If Hartleys are right that purchase of 23.5 million shares will become $9.86 million. But if Cantor are right then it will grow to $15.27 million.

Despite the status quo prevailing in the recent South African election, Hartleys still rated sentiment in South Africa as a key risk.

Black Rock Mining (ASX: BKT) director Ian Murray bought $127,505 on market while Eastern Goldfields (ASX: EGS) director Peter Mansell bought $250,000 in a rights issue. The latter company is in the process of recapitalising, although it does not yet have a time frame for re-listing on the ASX.

As were tech and aquaculture

Assetowl (ASX: AO1) director Simon Trevisan bought $219,950 in its rights issue. His colleagues Andrew Lane and Geoff Wilson participated as well, buying $99,000  and $10,000 respectively.

But the rights issue only raised $796,000 of the $1.25 million that was hoped for. The underwriter, Patersons Securities, is currently seeking to place the shortfall.

The third biggest trade this week, after Jupiter and Dongfang, was in “traffic-tech” stock Redflex (ASX: RDF). Adam Gray bought $590,652. Yes, by traffic-tech we mean red light and speed cameras.

But it also works with major road operators to intelligently manage them, such as changing speed limits and alerting drivers to speed changes and lane closures. So while at times traffic tech may be a curse it can be a blessing in disguise.

Seafarms Group (ASX: SFG) director Ian Trahir bought $105,000 in a rights issue. This was a more successful deal, meeting the prawn farmers’ expectations and raising over $4 million.

The sellers

Three directors sold over $100,000 of their shares last week. The biggest seller was ARQ Group’s (ASX: ARQ) CEO Martin Mercer who sold $329,363; but apparently it was against his will. he told shareholders: “I am reluctantly selling shares to meet personal tax obligations arising from the vesting of performance rights.”

“I am very positive about the company’s growth outlook and I look forward to continuing to lead the company into the future.”

Cashwerkz (ASX: CWZ) director Brook Adcock sold $300,000 of stock. His 3Y notice said, “this was a strategic sale to an Australian Financial Institution to acquire a substantial allocation of shares”.

Finally, Firstwave Cloud Technology (ASX: FCT) director Scott Lidgett also sold $300,000. No reason was given although thanks to the sale and a dilution, his stake fell from 10.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent.

Code Company Director Change Date Volume $ What Total holdings
DFM Dongfang Modern Agriculture Hongwei Cai Buy 24 May 5,000,000 4225000 Off market 286,073,628
IMA Image Resources Li Huang Cheng Buy 24-29 May 2,000,000 462500 On market 134,145,311
ARQ ARQ Group Martin Mercer Sell 27 May 190,941 329363 On market 318,216
CWZ CashWerkz Brock Adcock Sell 23 May 1,500,000 300000 Off market 54,239,679
FCT Firstwave Cloud Technology Scott Lidgett Sell 30 May 1,000,000 300000 On market 19,011,990
DFM Dongfang Modern Agriculture Hongwei Cai Buy 28 May 329,832 274821 On market 286,403,460
EGS Eastern Goldfields Peter Mansell Buy 28 May 25,000,000 250000 Rights issue 25,000,000
PVE Po Valley Energy Michael Masterman Buy 24 May 5,333,333 224000 Placement 162,026,327
AO1 Assetowl Simon Trevisan Buy 24 May 31,421,490 219950 Rights issue 48,146,520
BKT Black Rock Mining Ian Murray Buy 21-24 May 1,291,842 127504.8 On market 1,508,706
SFG Seafarms Group Ian Trahar Buy 29 May 1,166,662 105000 Rights issue 454,557,889
PVE Po Valley Energy Byron Pirola Buy 24 May 2,380,952 100000 Placement 61,875,087
PVE Po Valley Energy Kevin Bailey Buy 24 May 2,380,952 100000 Placement 135,109,121
RDF RedFlex Holdings Adam Gray Buy 27-30 May 1,380,545 $590,651.99 On market 41,628,866
JMS Jupiter Mines Priyank Thapliyal Buy 31 May 23,497,667 $6,814,323 On market 57,437,584
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