Morgan Crucible CEO buys up 'cheap' stock

9th May 2012 15:53

Mark Robertshaw, the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Crucible purchased 35,000 shares in the the FTSE 250 industrial materials group on the same day stock broker Jefferies hailed the stock as cheap, compared to its sector peers. Robertshaw purchased the shares at 290.00p for a total of £101,500, increasing his stake in the company to just under 0.54m shares, equal to 0.19% of the issued share capital. The broker said that, "any share price weakness today [Tuesday] should be considered a medium term buying opportunity". Jeffries' comments came as the company revealed it had stuck to its full year expectations despite a slower start to the year than it forecast. The firm said revenue in the first four months of 2012 at reported rates was marginally below the comparable period last year. Anticipated growth in the company's engineered materials division was hit by both a downturn in the solar market and the slowing of the Chinese economy. The stock has fallen more than 13%, or 42p, in the past year, and it down 18%, or 60p, in the last week.Top Director BuysMorgan Crucible Co (MGCR) Director name: Mr Mark RobertshawAmount purchased: 35,000 @ 290.00p Value: £101,500Witan Pacific Inv Trust (WPC) Director name: Mr Alan BarberAmount purchased: 24,000 @ 199.00p Value: £47,760Kofax (KFX) Director name: Mr Joe RoseAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 250.00p Value: £25,000Top Director SellsLegal & General Group (LGEN) Director name: Mr Tim J BreedonAmount sold: 1,984,536 @ 111.33p Value: £2,209,384Barclays (BARC) Director name: Mr Robert E Diamond JrAmount sold: 149,323 @ 205.76p Value: £307,247Barclays (BARC) Director name: Mr Chris LucasAmount sold: 34,679 @ 205.76p Value: £71,356Legal & General Group (LGEN) Director name: Mr Mark GregoryAmount sold: 21,444 @ 111.33p Value: £23,874Witan Pacific Inv Trust (WPC) Director name: Mr Alan BarberAmount sold: 12,000 @ 195.38p Value: £23,446NR