Nelson Peltz seeks two Board seats at Disney: Insider trades & hedge funds weekly

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest insider trades and institutional investor headlines you may have missed this week: Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund nominates two candidates to the Disney Board, Engaged Capital builds stake in PRA Group, and top brass buys at Cibus, Energy Transfer , and Terex.

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Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund nominates two candidates to the Disney Board

Activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management, L.P, owning $3 billion in Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock, announced yesterday its intention to nominate two independent directors, including Peltz himself, for Disney's Board at the 2024 Annual Shareholders Meeting. This marks Peltz's second attempt this year to influence Disney's strategy.

"As Disney's largest active shareholder, we can no longer sit idly by as the incumbent directors and their hand-picked replacements stand in the way of necessary change," mentioned Trian.

The fund criticized Disney's financial performance, noting lower per-share earnings compared to a decade ago, lagging margins in streaming and media operations, and underperforming movie releases. Trian attributes Disney's underperformance to a Board too aligned with CEO Bob Iger, lacking focus, alignment, and accountability.

Engaged Capital builds stake in PRA Group, shares surge

Hedge fund Engaged Capital LLC disclosed a 5.1%, or 2,010,750 shares, stake in PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA). The firm did not hold shares at the end of the latest quarter ending September 30, 2023.

Earlier, Reuters reported about the stake and said the activist hedge fund is pushing the company to enhance its operations, reduce expenses, and bolster its senior leadership with fresh expertise. As a result, PRA Group shares surged more than 11% on Wednesday.

Insider buys

Cibus (NASDAQ:CBUS) CEO, Rory Riggs, purchased 517,107 common shares, or worth more than $5.4 million, at $10.58. Shares were bought as part of a recent equity offering. Riggs owns a total of 1,622,495 shares directly and 1,105,388 indirectly following the latest purchase.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) co-CEO, Marshall McCrea, purchased 50,000 common shares, worth approximately $600,000, at $13.19. McCrea owns a total of 7,272,754 shares directly and 45,389 indirectly following the latest purchase.

Terex (NYSE:TEX) Director, David Sachs, purchased 50,000 common shares, worth over $2.5M, at $50.93-$51.16.

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