AVEVA CEO raises nearly two million pounds through share sale

18th Jun 2013 15:56

The long-running Chief Executive Officer of engineering software group AVEVA has dumped almost two million pounds-worth of shares in the company with the stock trading close to its all-time high.AVEVA said on Tuesday that Richard Longdon had sold a total of 85,000 shares the day before at a price of 2,263.38p, raising proceeds of £1.92m. The transaction reduced his stake in the company from 0.51% to 0.39%. Longdon first joined AVEVA back in 1984 and became CEO in 1999.The shares reached a record high of 2,420p on May 28th, a few days after the group reported its annual results in which it unveiled a special dividend worth £100m. The company delivered 12% growth in revenue to £220.2m during the year ended March 31st, while pre-tax profits rose 10% to £63.6m.The stock has since pulled back, falling to 2,252p on the day of the transaction, but was still up around 42% when compared with June 2012.On Tuesday, Citigroup upgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy', keeping its 2,450p target price unchanged, saying that the business is "designed for good growth" after the launch of its Everything3D (E3D) product in October 2012, a new platform focused for 'Lean Construction' in the plant design industry.The broker said that stock has had a "subdued" performance since the start of2013, rising just 3.0% as of Monday's close.Citi said: "Whilst we accept the shares are not cheap, trading on a calendarised price-to-earnings ratio of 23 2014E (21x excl. cash), Aveva remains to our mind a quality business with a strong market position with the potential for good upside to our FY15 and FY16 earning per share if it can gain traction with its E3D software."Top Director BuysBank of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Mr Charles K GiffordAmount purchased: 10,974 @ $13.07 Value: $143,430Alliance Trust (ATST) Director name: Ms Susan Noble Amount purchased: 10,458 @ 428.50p Value: £44,813F&C Asset Management (FCAM) Director name: Mr Edward BramsonAmount purchased: 11,000 @ 96.11p Value: £10,572Top Director SellsBank of America Corp. (BAC) Director name: Mr Charles K GiffordAmount sold: 580,734 @ $13.07 Value: $7,590,193Aveva Group (AVV) Director name: Mr Richard LongdonAmount sold: 85,000 @ 2,263.38p Value: £1,923,873Tertiary Minerals (TYM) Director name: Mr Donald McAlisterAmount sold: 276,242 @ 5.30p Value: £14,641