Report: “Largest insider sale this year”
Top-ranking executives with Wynn Resorts including COO Matt Maddox have been selling off thousands of shares of stock in recent weeks. Stocks are trading close to their highest value in a year, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Maddox sold 30,000 shares in the first week of February, almost one-third of his total stake. His remaining shares have been valued at more than $16 million. And Linda Chen, president of Wynn International Marketing, sold 10,000 shares February 6. She retained more than 144,000 shares worth $31.97 million.
As of last week, Wynn executives had sold 55,000 shares in what the Review-Journal called the first large insider sale of 2014. No shares owned by executives were sold in January, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wynn shares reached a 52-week high of $226 on February 12, and then closed down slightly, at just over $221. Analysts attribute the robust showing to Wynn’s performance in 2013 and its expansion into Cotai, where it will open the Wynn Palace in 2016. The price tag for the property could be $4 billion.
Zacks Equity Research upgraded Wynn stock to “outperform” from “neutral” with a price target of $267.
“Earnings last year almost doubled year-over-year,” the report said. “The upside was backed by the company’s solid Macau business as well as a decent performance in Las Vegas. Going forward, we expect the company to continue this trend given its strong brand potential, long-term growth potential in Macau and its ability to navigate in a difficult operating environment.”
