What: Shares of RAIT Financial Trust Real Estate Trust (NYSE: RAS) are on the move, rising by 10.6% at 2:40 p.m. EST.
So what: Fresh Form 4 filings hit the SEC after market close on Monday, which revealed insider purchase of RAIT common and preferred stock.
The purchases of common stock are outlined in the table below.
|
Insider |
Position |
Shares Purchased |
Average Price |
Shares Owned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Murray Stempel III |
Trustee |
10,000 |
$2.65 |
66,723 |
|
Michael Malter* |
Trustee |
10,000 |
$2.65 |
10,000 |
|
Frank Farnesi |
Trustee |
9,400 |
$2.66 |
70,265 |
|
Scott Davidson* |
President |
1,500 |
$2.68 |
162,316 |
*Insider also purchased shares of preferred stock in addition to common stock purchases.
One insider, the company's CEO and Chairman of the Board, Scott Schaeffer, sold 26,815 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $2.56 per share. The Form 4 for his sale indicated that Schaeffer was selling stock to "realize capital losses for 2015 personal income tax purposes."
Now what: RAIT Financial is having a tough year, having surprised its investors with a 50% cut to its dividend just last week. Insider buying may indicate that the market has overreacted to the news.
Trustees made over $100,000 on average for their services last year, while company President Scott Davidson and CEO Scott Shaeffer enjoyed pay packages worth over $2 million. One might conclude that insiders have more to gain from keeping their jobs than from token purchases of common stock.
