Directors Double Down on Magnera at 52-Week Low

This Week's Top Insider Moves That Matter

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After a week where Wall Street tiptoed back into risk, industrials surged, financials found footing, and even utilities caught a bid—insiders made their move. But they weren’t chasing momentum. They were stepping into the shadows.

While tech got noisy with retail flow and software stocks took a hit, the real story played out in quieter corners of the market. Places like specialty materials and legacy manufacturing, names the market punished for short-term misses. That’s where the insiders showed up.

This wasn’t window dressing. These were double-down buys, near 52-week lows, from people who’ve sat at the strategy table. They’re not trading trends. They’re betting on rebounds the market hasn’t priced in… yet. Let’s get into it.

Biggest Insider Sales

🏭 Hess Midstream $HESM ( ▲ 2.5% ) – BlackRock Pulls Over Half a Billion

• Who’s Selling? BlackRock Portfolio Management LLC (10% owner)

• What They Sold: 15,022,517 shares at $36.86

• Total Value: $553.7M

• Why It Matters: This isn’t a trim but a liquidation. BlackRock dumped its entire stake, signaling a full exit from the midstream energy play.

🏡 Airbnb $ABNB ( ▲ 2.81% ) – Director Unloads $30M+

• Who’s Selling? Joseph Gebbia (Director, 10% owner)

• What They Sold: 238,509 shares at $128.66

• Total Value: $30.7M

• Why It Matters: Even after selling, Gebbia still holds over 1.4M shares. But with a 14% trim, this suggests more caution than conviction.

🛠️ StandardAero $SARO ( ▲ 0.34% ) – GIC Dials Down by $22.6M

• Who’s Selling? GIC Private Ltd (10% owner)

• What They Sold: 828,729 shares at $27.30

• Total Value: $22.6M

• Why It Matters: The sovereign wealth fund only dropped 2% of its position, but the move is still notable given the aerospace firm’s private equity backing.

💻 Intuit $INTU ( ▲ 0.12% ) – EVP of People Offloads $19M+

• Who’s Selling? Laura Fennell (EVP, People, Places)

• What They Sold: 25,648 shares at $752.25

• Total Value: $19.3M

• Why It Matters: A 43% reduction in her stake raises eyebrows. This could be routine diversification or a sign she sees limited near-term upside.

📉 StepStone Group $STEP ( ▲ 1.13% ) – Strategy Head Sells $15M

• Who’s Selling? Michael McCabe (Head of Strategy)

• What They Sold: 251,118 shares at $59.92

• Total Value: $15.0M

• Why It Matters: A 7% trim doesn’t scream panic, but combined with other recent exec moves, it may suggest a cautious stance on private equity’s near-term outlook.

If you’re spotting a theme, you're not alone. This was a day of exits from insiders in sectors that have run hot. Now let’s flip the script and look at which companies’ executives are buying into with conviction.

Biggest Insider Purchases

🎬 Lionsgate Studios $LION ( ▼ 3.48% ) – $48.8M Hollywood Power Move

• Who’s Buying? Liberty 77 Capital L.P. (10% Owner)

• What They Bought: 7.42M shares at $6.58

• Total Investment: $48.8M

• Why It Matters: This is the only insider activity on record for Liberty 77, and it’s a blockbuster. A fresh $49M position with a 26% stake boost suggests someone sees major upside, likely tied to a strategic shift or IP monetization.

🏢 Kayne Anderson BDC $KBDC ( ▲ 0.51% ) – Director Adds $681K

• Who’s Buying? James Robo (Director)

• What They Bought: 43,020 shares at $15.84

• Total Investment: $681K

• Why It Matters: Robo has a steady buying pattern over time, but this recent move reinforces confidence in KBDC’s NAV stability. It's not flashy, but it's consistent conviction.

🧴 Reynolds Consumer Products $REYN ( ▼ 1.91% ) – First Buy for Finance Chief

• Who’s Buying? Chris Mayrhofer (VP, Controller, CAO)

• What They Bought: 23,266 shares at $22.11

• Total Investment: $514K

• Why It Matters: First-time insider buyers are worth noting, especially when they go all in. Mayrhofer now owns exactly what he just bought, showing skin in the game and belief in Reynolds’ long-term resilience.

🧪 Magnera Corp $MAGN ( ▲ 5.8% ) – Double Down From the Board

• Who’s Buying? Bruce Brown (Director)

• What They Bought: 16,940 shares at $11.81

• Total Investment: $199.9K

• Why It Matters: A 138% increase in ownership is meaningful on its own, but pair it with Tom Salmon’s 93% increase and you have a cluster buy that screams internal confidence.

🏗 Magnera Corp $MAGN ( ▲ 5.8% ) – Coordinated Bet on the Future

• Who’s Buying? Tom Salmon (Director)

• What They Bought: 17,000 shares at $11.94

• Total Investment: $203K

• Why It Matters: Salmon has been steadily accumulating shares, but this week’s purchase marks a sharp step-up. It’s not just a repeat buy, it’s a statement.

🔬Insider Under the Microscope: Magnera Corp

This week, Magnera Corp $MAGN ( ▲ 5.8% ) became the most quietly confident stock on our radar, thanks to not one, but two board members making aggressive open-market buys near 52-week lows.

Director Tom Salmon, former CEO of Berry Global and one of the architects behind the very merger that created Magnera, purchased 17,000 shares at $11.94, while fellow Director Bruce Brown, ex-P&G CTO and a long-time Glatfelter insider, picked up 16,940 shares at $11.81. That’s a 93% and 138% increase in their respective holdings, significant moves for two men who’ve seen this business from the inside out.

The timing is telling. These buys came just after Magnera reported disappointing Q2 earnings, missing expectations on both revenue and profit, and slashed full-year EBITDA guidance. Most investors saw warning lights. These directors saw opportunity.

Magnera, formed from the Berry-Glatfelter merger, is now one of the world’s largest nonwovens manufacturers, supplying essential materials to healthcare, hygiene, and construction markets. The stock is down over 40% from its peak, but insiders appear to believe the market has overcorrected.

Management says cost synergies from the merger are tracking ahead of plan, raw material inflation is easing, and pricing power is kicking back in for the second half of the year. If margins begin to recover and early signs suggest they might, MAGN’s current valuation could look absurdly cheap in hindsight.

Bottom line: This isn’t window dressing. When two seasoned directors nearly double their stakes during peak pessimism, they’re not betting on sentiment. They’re betting on a rebound.

👀 This was just one of five major trades we flagged this week.
Access+ members saw the rest — as they happened, not after the market moved.

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