Sales of GoPro and its CEO, Nicholas Woodman, make huge sales

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Go Pro

stock (ticker: GPRO) is on the rebound and its top executive has stepped up sales.

The actions of the manufacturer of action cameras have lost half of their market value in 2018, due to disappointing results and issues of execution.

The new year has reinvigorated the GoPro stock and profits have improved significantly. GoPro's stock has increased 57% so far this year until Thursday's close at $ 6.67.

GoPro's founder, president and CEO, Nicholas Woodman, sold a large amount of stock with his new strength, but did not sell any in 2018.

So far this year, until March 29, a Woodman-controlled trust has achieved planned sales of 2.8 million Class A shares for a total of $ 17.4 million. an average of $ 6.23 each. Woodman had put in place a trading plan called Rule 10b5-1 on August 31st. Under this plan, an insider of the company sets parameters, including the price and volume of shares to buy or sell. When the conditions are met, the transactions are executed. The structure is intended to eliminate any potential bias that an insider might have in the knowledge of important non-public information.

The shares sold by Woodman have been converted by the Class B Stock Surveillance Trust, which are not traded on a stock exchange. Each class B action gives 10 votes and each class A share one vote. Woodman controls the essential voting rights of GoPro shares through a controlling interest in class B shares. According to a form he has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Woodman now holds 33 million class B shares through trusts. According to figures in the last proxy of the company dating from last April, this stake now represents about 70% of the voting rights of GoPro.

GoPro refused to let Woodman available to comment on sales and the company also declined to comment.

Write to Ed Lin to [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.