Director Trades: Which wise guy tech founder is $13 million richer this week?

WiseTech Global founder sells $13 million worth of stock
Propel Funeral Partners co-founders sell a total of ~$6 million worth of stock
iCollege non-executive director sells $1 million to institutional investor

ASX director trading activity remains strong with announcements of some big buys and sells in the first half of April as market volatility continues to play out.

Whether to show investors they are bullish on their companies, are looking to top-up their holdings while prices are low, or want to protect against further losses, there have been some large director on-market trades.

WiseTech Global founder’s $13 million sale

Software solutions to the logistics industry WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) founder Robert White has sold ~$13 million worth of stock in the company.

White sold 127,405 shares directly and indirectly through Realwise Holdings Pty Ltd, for which he owns 91.83%, between March 25 and 31 at an average price of $51.02, equating to ~$6.5 million.

He sold a further 126,080 of WiseTech Global stock the same way at an average of $51.55 per share between April 1-7, again equating to ~$6.5 million. The sales don’t put much of a dent in the holdings of White, who still owns ~3.67 million shares directly and ~121.87 million indirectly.

Meanwhile, independent non-executive director Michael Gregg ponied up for ~$349k worth of WiseTech stock indirectly through an entity for which he is associated on April 8. He still holds ~5.3 million shares directly and ~7.35 indirectly.

The WiseTech share price has climbed ~46% in the past year.

Propel Funeral Partners sale

Funeral operator Propel Funeral Partners (ASX:PFP) had two of its co-founders sell a parcel of their shares on April 6. Co-founder, CEO and managing director Albin Kurti sold 729,778 worth of shares for an average of $4.80 equating to ~$3.5 million indirectly through entities he is associated with.

Kurti still owns 10,160,548 indirectly after the sale. His co-founder, executive director, head of M&A and general counsel Fraser Henderson sold ~$2.5 million of stock in the company directly and indirectly through associated entities.

Henderson still holds 7.24 million shares in Propel directly and indirectly. Propel listed on the ASX in late 2017 and has been expanding ever since by focusing on acquiring smaller family owned funeral homes.

The company now has a market cap of $551.75 million with its share price rising ~53.95% in the past year to ~$4.68.

iCollege $1 million sale to institutional investor

Vocational training provider iCollege Limited (ASX: ICT) has announced non-executive director Ashish Katta has sold 10 million shares via an on-market share transfer to an institutional investor.

The shares were sold for 10 cents each, equating to ~$1 million and amounted to ~18% of the total held by Katta.

Katta stepped down as the managing director and CEO of iCollege after the successful acquisition of RedHill Education Limited in October 2021.

He has pursued new ventures including founding a not-for-profit organisation to support young children who have been orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the announcement, the company said Katta has indicated that he has no intention to dispose of any further iCollege shares in the near term.

Shares in the company have tumbled ~29% in the past year.

Corps remains bullish on Nico Resources

Nickel and cobalt explorer Nico Resources (ASX:NC1) managing director Rod Corps continues to be bullish on the spin-out from Metals X (ASX:MLX).

Corps directly ponied up for a further 1,557,805 ordinary shares for ~$1.62 million on March 25. He made another direct purchase of 1,517,813 shares for ~$1.6 million on April 12.

Corps has been on a buying spree of the stock of late, which has risen ~230% since listing on the ASX in January.

Tassie billionaire continues Engenco buy-up

Tasmania business magnate Dale Elphinstone also continues his bullish run in Australian engineering services firm Engenco (ASX:EGN).

The director and former chairman ponied up for a further 4,356,297 shares in Engenco for ~$2.2 million on April 8 indirectly through an entities for which he is associated. The latest purchase continued his buying spree in Engenco in the past couple of months with the number of shares now held at 216,554,707.

Potash explorer Reward Minerals Acting CEO buys up

Advanced-stage potash exploration company Reward Minerals (ASX:RWD) saw its acting CEO and managing director Michael Ruane snap up 4,392,144 shares totalling $483,126.

The purchase was made directly and indirectly through entities associated with Ruane on April 7-8, according to an announcement by Reward Minerals.

The company’s flagship project is its 100% owned Lake Disappointment Sulphate of Potash (SOP) project, in the Little Sandy Desert of northwestern Western Australia. It is an area known to host one of the largest SOP deposits in the world.

The Reward Minerals share price has fallen ~13% in the past year but also risen ~13% in the past week to 13 cents.