Monday, July 8, 2013

Les Moonves Sells $22 Million Worth of CBS Stock

Les Moonves
As CBS stock bumped against record highs last week, CBS CEO Les Moonves cashed in stock options, earning about $11.6 million in profit, according to a regulatory filing.

According to THR, the filing indicates that Moonves sold 450,000 shares in three lots, one for an average of $49.02 a share, another at an average of $49.10 and a third at an average of $49.51. In all, the CEO sold about $22 million in stock on Monday and Tuesday.

The same regulatory filing says Moonves acquired 450,000 shares Monday and Tuesday at $23.19 apiece, or about $10.44 million, via the exercise price on stock options he receives under a long-term incentive plan. A CBS spokesman said the sale, too, was part of a regularly scheduled plan.

Shares of CBS closed fractionally higher Friday to $50.06. They reached an intraday high of $52.46 on May 22.

Moonves was the highest-paid CEO of a Hollywood conglomerate in 2012, earning $62.2 million.


Tom’s Take:  Many prominent execs use automatic triggers for their estate trading to avoid sending an unintended signal to investors who keep an eagle eye on insider trades to see when the people who know a company best believe that the stock price is about to change its trajectory.  And remember talk of a CBS-Cumulus deal?  Is some announcement coming?

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