Ric Fulop, CEO of Desktop Metal (DM), recently picked up 128,850 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 0.64 percent, and came to a total price just under $526,000.
This marks the first insider buy at the company since it went public last year. One company director has been a seller of shares on two occasions over the past two months, otherwise, insiders have been holding their position.
Overall, company insiders own just under 17 percent of shares.
Shares of the metal 3D printing system company have slid 77 percent over the past year. As with many small-cap companies that went public in the last year, the stock has largely been sliding, and the early-stage company is still a long ways from profitability.
Action to take: The large insider ownership and buying by the company CEO is a sign that the worst of the selloff may be over. 3D printing, particularly with metals, is still an early-stage tech trend that could revitalize manufacturing and vastly shorten global supply lines. That makes shares an interesting speculation here, although in the short-term shares may continue to be volatile.
For traders, the August $2.50 calls are currently going for about $2.60. With shares around $5, that’s a premium of just $0.10 right now. A modest move higher in shares could lead to mid-double-digit returns in the coming months.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.