When aiming to gain insight about which stocks are strong and which are weak, sophisticated investors often examine insider buying and selling reports. When the executives of publicly traded companies buy or sell shares in their own businesses, they are required to report those transactions in public disclosures.
As pointed out by Bloomberg and YourNewsWire, Mark Zuckerberg, among other Facebook executives, has been one of the most steadfast sellers of Facebook stock since the Cambridge Analytica scandal surfaced mid-March.
Zuckerberg’s selloff accounted for 90% of the total as part of a planned announcement last fall.
Mark Zuckerberg was not the only Facebook executive has had recently dumped shares. Jan Koum, the creator of WhatsApp, sold off almost half-a-billion dollars worth of stock and Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook COO known for promising assistance from Facebook to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, sold $77 Million worth of her Facebook holdings.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO to Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, June 6, 2015
1: https://t.co/qUo2pXTyB7
2: https://t.co/o6pXZFXVyy pic.twitter.com/Jcwn0gIgOF— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 25, 2016
It’s impossible to know exactly why the Facebook executives sold their stocks, as the insider-activity disclosures do not require executives to list a specific reason for buying and selling shares.
