It was the third week in a row global stock markets kept falling — and ASX small cap directors kept buying.
Among large caps, the most prominent was Fortescue (ASX:FMG) boss Andrew Forrest who bought $35m early last week. But among small caps there was over 20 directors that made buys over $100,000.
| Code | Company | Director | Change | Date | Volume | $ | What |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MNF | MNF Group | David Stewart | Buy | 6 March | 50,000 | $185,500 | On market |
| PSI | PSC Insurance Group | Brian Austin | Buy | 6 March | 47,300 | $135,856 | On market |
| EAX | Energy Action | Murray Bleach | Buy | 6 March | 2,000,000 | $400,000 | On market |
| PPE | People Infrastructure | Declan Sherman | Sell | 5 March | 1,000,000 | $3,200,000 | On market |
| AV1 | Adveritas | Mark McConnell | Buy | 9 March | 1,063,360 | $155,778 | On market |
| TTT | Titomic | Jeffrey Lang | Sell | 9 March | 750,000 | $600,000 | Off market |
| TTT | Titomic | Philip Vafiadis | Sell | 9 March | 200,000 | $165,062.50 | Off market |
| CGS | Cogstate | Brad O'Connor | Sell | 10 March | 550,000 | $229,730 | On market |
| SSG | Shaver Shop | Craig Mathieson | Buy | 6 March | 160,000 | $100,000 | On market |
| EM2 | Eagle Mountain Mining | Charles Bass | Buy | 9 March | 5,000,000 | $750,000 | Placement |
| RAC | Race Oncology | William Garner | Sell | 6 March | 4,000,000 | $1,194,000 | Off market |
| ACF | Acrow Formwork & Construction | Peter Lancken | Buy | 10 March | 333,334 | $100,000 | Off market |
| MYX | Mayne Pharma | Bruce Mathieson | Buy | 11 March | 3,112,726 | $982,336 | On market |
| ANO | Advance Nanotek | Geoff Acton | Sell | 9 March | 214,000 | $1,284,000 | Off market |
| ANO | Advance Nanotek | Lev Mizikovsky | Buy | 10 March | 324,889 | $1,793,130 | On market |
| SIQ | Smartgroup | Timothy Looi | Buy | 9 March | 35,000 | $209,180 | On market |
| ALC | Alcidion Group | Katrina Doyle | Buy | 11 March | 1,000,000 | $137,500 | On market |
| ADH | Adairs | Michael Butler | Buy | 11 March | 120,000 | $201,242 | On market |
| MME | MoneyMe | Scott Emery | Buy | 12 March | 170,000 | $198,165 | On market |
| AVA | AVA Risk Group | Michael McGeever | Buy | 12 March | 1,000,000 | $117,000 | On market |
| PSI | PSC Insurance Group | Anthony Robinson | Buy | 12 March | 40,000 | $100,000 | On market |
| PSI | PSC Insurance Group | Paul Dwyer | Buy | 12 March | 160,000 | $400,000 | On market |
| MMA | MMA Offshore | Peter Keenan | Buy | 12 March | 5,000,000 | $472,903 | On market |
| AX1 | Accent Group | Daniel Agostinelli | Buy | 12 March | 100,000 | $117,539 | On market |
| IFM | Infomedia | Jonathan Rubinsztein | Sell | 13 March | 2,429,776 | $4,524,662.32 | On market |
MoneyMe (ASX:MME) only listed late last year but was not spared from being sold off en masse, plunging over 40 per cent in a month.
But not everyone is selling — Scott Emery put in another $198,165.
Two directors buying were from retailers. Craig Mathieson bought $160,000 in Shaver Shop (ASX:SSG) stock, while Michael Butler bought $201,242 of linen seller Adairs (ASX:ADH).
Both Shaver Shop and Adairs last updated the market in late February, sticking with their guidance in spite of the COVID-19 crisis. Both companies have been expanding into the online space in recent months where the risk is significantly reduced for retailers and consumers.
The biggest buyer last week was a prominent identity among small caps — Lev Mizikovsky. He bought $1.79m worth of Advance Nanotek (ASX:ANO), which makes sunscreen.
While his company made a $1m profit in February, it is noticing US suppliers are not building up inventory in anticipation for summer. But Advance Nanotek says it expects demand to continue.
Katrina Doyle from health analytics firm Alcidion (ASX:ALC) bought $137,500 worth of stock in firm defiance of a market that has sent the stock down by half in a month.
One trio of directors that bought more shares was from insurance broker PSC Insurance Group (ASX:PSI). Brian Austin bought $135,856, while Anthony Robinson tipped in a further $100,000 and Paul Dwyer snapped up $400,000.
Rich lister and Citadel (ASX:CGL) founder Mark McConnell bought just over $150,000 worth of another tech stock he sits on the board of — Adveritas (ASX:AV1).
Sellers
One seller was William Garner of Race Oncology (ASX:RAC). The company is trying to commercialise a drug called Bisantrene, which targets a rare type of leukaemia, and is undertaking clinical trials this year.
Garner sold just over $1m in shares, worth about 3.66 per cent of the company, directly to institutional investor Merchant Opportunities, which wanted in. While Race Oncology is off its all time highs, the company still sits five times higher than eight months ago.
Phillip Vafiadis and Jeffrey Lang from Titomic (ASX:TTT) also sold to an institutional investor. The pair offloaded nearly $800,000 worth of shares to the as yet unnamed investor.
But not all were selling to the instos. Declan Sherman sold $3.2m of People Infrastructure (ASX:PPE) shares owned by his family trust to “fund a recently acquired residential property”.
Infomedia’s (ASX:IFM) Jonathan Rubinsztein parted with $4.5m in shares to pay a tax bill.