MicroStrategy Insiders Buy $1.3 Million of Preferred Stock
Four MicroStrategy MSTR insiders paid a total of $1.3 million to buy into the company’s latest offering of preferred stock on June 6.
A big holder of Bitcoin BTC00, MicroStrategy offered an 11.75% dividend yield on its new junior preferred shares, priced at $85 each, below the face value of $100. There was strong investor demand at the discounted price, and MicroStrategy sold about 11.8 million shares, raising $980 million after underwriting expenses and other deal fees. The deal had been originally set at 2.5 million shares.
Among insiders, the buying was led by director Jarrod Patten, who paid $425,000 for 5,000 of preferred MicroStrategy shares, according to a form that he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Patten is the CEO of a consulting firm, RRG, and has been on MicroStrategy’s board since 2004.
MicroStrategy didn’t respond to a request to make the insiders available for comment.
President and CEO Phong Le paid $382,500 for 4,500 of the preferred MicroStrategy shares. Le also sold 5,295 common shares on June 6 through a so-called Rule 10b5-1 trading plan for $2 million, or $374.54 each. Insiders use such plans to remove the appearance of bias from the knowledge of nonpublic information. The plans automatically execute trades when preset conditions, such as price, volume, and timing, are met.
General Counsel Wei-Ming Shao paid $299,795 for 3,527 preferred MicroStrategy shares, and his trading plan sold 1,701 common shares for $637,100, an average price of $374.54 each.
Chief Financial Officer Andrew Kang paid $191,250 for 2,250 preferred MicroStrategy shares, and his trading plan sold 1,877 common shares for $703,000, or $374.54 each.