Slack CEO Sells $555,575 in Stock Over a Month
Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has sold a total of 25,000 shares between December 6, 2019 and January 8, 2020, totaling $555,575. Through this period, Butterfield sold 2,500 shares approximately every three to four days.
Butterfield retains 165,947 shares with Slack, currently valued at $3,569,520.
All transactions were disclosed with the SEC.
Source: Slack Scorecard at SoftwareReviews. Accessed January 13, 2020.
Our Take
Insider selling may not look good on the surface. This is pertinent in Slack’s case, with the company expected to post -0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
However, Butterfield’s selling of Slack shares does not mean that Slack is on the edge of a collapse in value. Indeed, over the last 12 months, Slack insiders bought more Slack shares than sold, buying up 369,127,781 shares compared to their selling of 277,527,652 shares.
Moreover, to be legal, insider buying and selling must not be based on inside information. Butterfield is operating on the same information as everyone else and not acting as a first mover against impending doom (doom for which there is no evidence).
In reality, Butterfield’s selling pattern follows a systematic plan, meaning it is most likely that Butterfield is diversifying his holdings. After all, Butterfield still retains a sizable share of Slack, demonstrating continued confidence in Slack’s ability to do well.
Consequently: Don’t panic at this news.
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