The Insider | Institutional shareholders, and some directors, exited these Hong Kong stocks, filings show

Share trading activity by company directors rose for the first time in the past four weeks based on stock exchange filings from February 13 to 17 with six companies that recorded 23 purchases worth HK$30 million versus six companies with nine disposals worth HK$124 million. The number of companies on the buying side was not far off from the previous week’s seven firms while the number of trades and value were up from the previous week’s 18 purchases worth HK$16.7 million. The sales, on the other hand, were sharply up from the previous week’s two companies, four disposals and HK$1.2 million.

While the buying by directors rose last week, the buyback activity plunged with only five companies that posted 20 repurchases worth HK$41 million based on filings from Monday to Thursday. The figures were sharply down from the previous week’s five-day total of nine firms, 45 trades and HK$65.7 million.

The huge sell value last week was mainly due to sales by the CEO of Skyworth Digital Holdings, as he unloaded HK$108 million worth of shares. The disposal, which was made after the stock rebounded by 29 per cent, was the CEO’s first sale since July 2017 and his single largest disposal to date. Meanwhile, several fund managers ceased to be substantial shareholders in a number of stocks last week as they either took profits or switched out of underperforming positions during the huge rally in the market this month. The fact that they lowered their stakes to slightly below 5 per cent of the issued capital are signs of more disposals to come. Among the stocks that funds exited from public view are Wynn Macau, CGN Power Co, China Sanjiang Fine Chemicals, Prada SpA, Beijing Jingkelong and Weichai Power.

Skyworth Digital Holdings

CEO Yang Dong Wen recorded his first on-market trade in television set manufacturer and distributor Skyworth Digital Holdings since July 2016 with 20.05 million shares sold on February 14 at HK$5.38 each. The trade reduced his holdings by 66 per cent to 10.336 million shares or 0.34 per cent of the issued capital. Also negative this quarter is Value Partners Group. The group ceased to be a substantial shareholder on January 16 following the sale of 3.86 million shares at HK$4.52 each, which lowered its stake to 146.808 million shares or 4.9 per cent. The shareholder previously reported an initial filing (for the third time since June 2012) in August 2016 of 2.16 million shares at HK$5.83 each, which raised its interest to 5.05 per cent. The stock closed at HK$4.99 on Friday.