Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their estimates and recommendations again, leading to the release of a large number of broker notes this week.

Three broker buy ratings that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

According to a note out of Ord Minnett, its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted the price target on this payments company’s shares to $105.00. The broker was pleased with Afterpay’s full year results and particularly its better than expected gross losses. It also notes that the company is expanding into Europe and testing the waters in Asia. Though, acknowledges that these are unlikely to be making meaningful contributions to its revenue until FY 2022 I agree with Ord Minnett and would buy and hold Afterpay shares for the long term.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Analysts at UBS have retained their buy rating and increased the price target on this artificial intelligence services company’s shares to $44.00 following its half year results. According to the note, Appen delivered a result that was largely in line with its estimates. It also notes that the company has reaffirmed its guidance for FY 2020 despite COVID-19 headwinds. And while this implies a sizeable skew towards the second half, UBS appears confident it will achieve this. It also remains confident in its long term prospects. I think UBS is spot on and the recent Appen share price weakness is a buying opportunity.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

A note out of Morgans reveals that its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted the price target on this buy now pay later provider’s shares to $10.28. According to the note, Morgans was pleased with Zip’s stronger than expected financial performance in FY 2020 and appears confident its strong growth can continue. Especially given the impending QuadPay acquisition and the launch of Zip Business with eBay Australia. The broker expects the latter’s product mix to have positive impacts on its revenue yield. As a result, it has upgraded its earnings estimates for the near term. I would have to agree with Morgans as well. I think Zip shares could be great buy and hold options.

More reading

• The Appen share price is down 9% today. Here’s why
• ASX shares are on track for new record highs. Here’s why…
• ASX 200 down 0.9%: Costa impresses, Harvey Norman profits grow, Appen downgraded
• Why a2 Milk, Appen, Huon, & Newcrest shares are tumbling lower
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy and hold beyond 2025

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Appen Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Mining giant Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) has been panned for its inadequate response to its destruction of Juukan Gorge in Western Australia.

The $36 billion company legally blew up the site in May despite protests from archaeologists and Indigenous groups due to its cultural and historical significance.

Rio Tinto earlier this week concluded in an internal review that the action was a mistake, but refused to blame any single person or decision.

“We will implement important new measures and governance to ensure we do not repeat what happened at Juukan Gorge and we will continue to rebuild our trust with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people,” said Rio Chair, Simon Thompson.

But several major investors have now criticised this response.

HESTA, a $52 billion superannuation fund, was so incensed that it drew up a “statement on working with Indigenous communities” and sent it to 14 Australian mining companies.

HESTA Chief Executive, Debby Blakey, said there was much investor disappointment at the Juukan Gorge saga.

“Not only was priceless heritage destroyed and the costs borne by shareholders as a result, but we had believed this risk to be well managed in our portfolio,” she said. “This has prompted us to renew our focus on ensuring fair and sustainable outcomes for Indigenous communities and companies,” she added.

The other 13 resources and energy companies that received HESTA’s statement were:

• BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
• Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)
• Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM)
• Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)
• Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR)
• Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)
• Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)
• Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC)
• Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)
• South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)
• Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)
• Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)
• Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX: COE)

Price of destruction is $7 million 

Priceless as the site might have been, Rio Tinto did shave 4 million British pounds ($7.2 million) off the bonuses of three top executives.

This ‘valuation’ of the site’s destruction has angered some investors.

“Remuneration appears to be the only sanction applied to executives. This raises the question – does the company feel that £4 million is the right price for the destruction of cultural heritage?” said Australian Council of Superannuation Investors Chief Executive, Louise Davidson. “The company should explain why greater accountability was not applied in light of this disaster, ” she added.

Davidson, whose organisation represents investors that own an average of 10% of every S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) company, said a third party should have conducted the review.

“The destruction of the caves resulted in a devastating cultural loss… It is of significant concern to investors because it puts at risk Rio Tinto’s relationship with key stakeholders and its social licence to operate,” she said. “An independent and transparent review would have given investors greater confidence that accountability applied was appropriate and proportionate,” Davidson added. 

Blakey said Rio Tinto’s behaviour was a “wake-up call for all investors”.

“It has caused us to review how we are assessing company performance,” she commented.

“Investors expect companies to think strategically about future opportunities and risks that may impact their businesses. Likewise, they should also be thinking about how changing societal expectations may impact their decisions around heritage and community engagement,” she went on to say.

More reading

• ‘Ethical’ share investors sell too quickly after bad news
• Why the IGO share price is outperforming the ASX 200 today
• What are dividend shares and how do you find them?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Blue chips, earnings drag ASX lower
• After the stellar COVID-19 rebound, can ASX share prices keep rising?

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Buddy Technologies Ltd (ASX: BUD) share price is flying more than 33% higher today. The bullish price action follows an announcement that the company released earlier.

What did Buddy announce?

Earlier today Buddy Technologies announced the launch of a new antibacterial light product. The company informed the market that its world-first smart light, LIFX Clean, has successfully passed efficacy and safety testing.

LIFX Clean is a fully functional white and colour lighting that uses germicidal antibacterial light to disinfect surfaces and surrounding air. The company noted that LIFX Clean is an extension of its multi-patented LIFX A19/A60 1200 lumen smart light platform. According to Buddy, this LIFX Clean is designed to emit visible light at a germicidal wavelength of 405 nano metres.

Buddy said the LIFX Clean product had passed efficacy testing conducted by the Department of Chemisty at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology. In addition, the company noted that LIFX Clean was in the queue to be tested for efficacy against COVID-19.

Buddy’s management highlighted the innovative nature in developing LIFX Clean and said it expected the product to meet enormous demand. The company said LIFX Clean was developed and ready for market launch as an antibacterial product in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the EU. However, the company noted that the US market was subject to different regulatory requirements.

What does Buddy Technologies do?

Buddy Technologies is an Australian-based company that operates in both commercial and consumer sectors. The company’s commercial business focuses on helping customers leverage digital technologies for energy monitoring and reporting.

Buddy’s consumer business trades under the LIFX brand and is a provider of smart lighting solutions. The company has a wide portfolio of Wi-Fi enabled lights that are used in nearly 1 million homes and sold in more than 100 countries.

Should you invest?

At the time of writing, the Buddy share price is trading more than 33% higher at 9.2 cents for the day. The company’s shares have been sold down slightly after hitting an intra-day high of 9.3 cents earlier. Overall, the Buddy share price has performed strongly for 2020 and is up more than 158% for the year.

More reading

• Buddy share price leaps 18% following letter to shareholders
• Buddy share price soars 19% on record orders
• Why the Buddy Technologies share price more than doubled in a week

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is having one of those not so good, very bad kinds of days. Appen shares are down 9% at the time of writing to $35.17 each. That’s a fairly steep decline for a single day’s trading, especially after the company’s share price dropped more than 11% just yesterday following Appen’s release of its full-year earnings for the 2020 financial year.

So what’s going on with the Appen share price?

What is Appen?

Appen is known as one of the ASX’s highest-flying tech shares, so much so that is is one of the A’s in the WAAAX shares – the ASX’s answer to the US FAANG stocks. Appen specialises in making human-annotated datasets. Basically, that means Appen makes data that helps computers understand human interaction in better ways. Its applications range from smart assistant’s like Siri and Alexa to speech-to-text dictation and translation services.

Why the Appen share price is plunging today

As I mentioned earlier, yesterday Appen reported its earnings to investors, and it didn’t go down too well. Despite the company posting 25% revenue growth, a 20% increase in profits and a 12.5% increase to its dividend, investors evidently expected better things. Appen shares opened more than 15% lower yesterday and had only recovered by 4.5% by the end of the trading day.

It seems investors have woken up this morning and decided that wasn’t enough. Perhaps today’s moves are traders taking a bit of profit off the table after buying in at market open yesterday. Perhaps it was decided that Appen’s numbers don’t justify the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 102. Or perhaps investors didn’t like that Appen only reaffirmed its guidance for FY21 rather than bumping its expectations up.

It’s hard to say exactly what is causing today’s second round of selling. But these things tend to happen from time to time with these lofty growth shares. There are (and have been for a while) a lot of expectations baked into Appen’s share price. When there is even a hint of a hiccup, these kinds of sell-offs are not uncommon for market darling growth shares.

Some perspective might be handy as well. Even after this week’s selling, Appen is still trading at levels we only saw a month or 2 ago right now. And back then, Appen was at record highs.

Is Appen a buy after this sell-off?

If you’ve been kicking yourself for missing out on Appen shares and are super-bullish on this company, then perhaps today’s plunge is a good time to buy. But personally, I still think Appen’s shares are priced to perfection, even after today’s sell-off. I’m not interested in paying a 3-digit earnings multiple for Appen, despite its pleasing growth rates. But if you are, then all luck to you!

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• ASX shares are on track for new record highs. Here’s why…
• ASX 200 down 0.9%: Costa impresses, Harvey Norman profits grow, Appen downgraded
• Why a2 Milk, Appen, Huon, & Newcrest shares are tumbling lower
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy and hold beyond 2025

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price has surged 77.62% today after the company announced a five year exclusive contract with NBCUniversal. At the time of writing, the Pointsbet share price is trading at $13.41 after closing yesterday’s session at $7.55. Under the contract, Pointsbet will become the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports in the United States. The partnership provides access to leading national and regional television and digital assets, with the largest sports audience of any US media company. 

What does Pointsbet do? 

Pointsbet is a corporate bookmaker operating in Australia and the US. The company has developed a scalable, cloud-based wagering platform through which it offers sports and racing wagering products. The partnership with NBC serves to accelerate Pointbet’s strategy to leverage the US sports betting and iGaming markets.

How has the Pointsbet share price been performing? 

The company reported strong growth across KPIs in FY20, which has seen the Pointsbet share price increase more than 1,000% from a March low of $1.19 to its current level. Turnover increased 103% to $1,152 million in FY20, while active client numbers increased 39% to 111,4000. Net revenues reached $75.2 million, up from $25.6 million in FY19. The Australian trading business delivered positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for FY20 after only three years of operation and continued expansion in the US. 

Pointsbet’s US business 

Investors have been piling into the Pointsbet share price as the company has secured key partnerships with major US sports teams including the Detroit Tigers, Indiana Pacers, Colorado Avalanches, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Mammoths. In FY20, Pointsbet launched online operations in Iowa and Indiana, and had licenses approved for Illinois and Colorado. iGaming is preparing for launch in Michigan, New Jersey and West Virginia. The deal with NBCUniversal is expected to be transformational and drive significant financial benefits. 

The US online sports betting market is estimated to be worth $27 billion and is growing rapidly. The US iGaming market is estimated to be worth $30 billion at maturity. Growth in this market will be driven by the NBC partnership, which gives Pointsbet exclusive rights to promotional enhancements and integrations on television and digital platforms. 

Pointsbet CEO, Sam Swanell, said:

NBC Sports, an iconic brand and holder of the largest sports audience in the US, brings significant credibility and trust to Pointsbet’s operations. Through the NBC Sports partnership, Pointsbet gains access to market-leading broadcast assets which span 184 million viewers and digital assets which span 60 million monthly active users. These assets will act as the cornerstone of our marketing strategy and ….will deliver outstanding client acquisition and retention efficiency as we scale rapidly over the next five years. 

More reading

• Why Costa, Flight Centre, Polynovo, & Pointsbet shares are storming higher
• Pointsbet share price on watch as FY20 revenue triples
• Why Pointsbet is a top ASX growth share to buy right now
• How investing in ASX shares could help you grow $10,000 into $100,000
• Pointsbet share price on watch after ANOTHER new partnership

Kate O’Brien has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Village Roadshow Ltd (ASX: VRL) share price has fallen today following the company’s release of its preliminary full year result to 30 June 2020. At the time of writing, the Village Roadshow share price has edged 0.47% lower to $2.10 after closing yesterday’s trade at $2.11. 

What did Village Roadshow report?

Investors are today driving the Village Roadshow share price lower after the company reported that income from operations was down 21.5% to $786.18 million. Village Roadshow stated that income had been affected by the closure of its cinemas and theme parks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company posted a net loss after tax of $117.35 million. While expenses were down compared to the 2019 financial year, Village Roadshow’s drop in revenue resulting from COVID-19 led to it reporting a loss in FY2020. Village Roadshow stated that cost cutting measures were introduced in the fourth quarter of the financial year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were $82.9 million in the 2020 financial year compared to $124.9 million in the 2019 financial year.

Village Roadshow had net debt of $278.3 million at 30 June 2020. Covenants with the company’s lending group related to trading performance were waived and will not be tested until 30 March 2021. 

Village Roadshow’s board resolved not to pay a dividend for the 2020 financial year.

When commenting on the outlook for FY 2021, the company stated that theme parks are restricted to 50% capacity as a result of coronavirus and that all cinemas in Victoria are currently closed while other cinemas are trading with social distancing rules in place. As a result, Village Roadshow expects to receive lower operating cash flows in FY2021.

In its annual report, Village Roadshow stated, “VRL is currently  operating on a negative cash basis and expects this will continue for several months.”

The company also advised that it had received a debt facility of $70 million to support it during the first half of FY 2021.

About the Village Roadshow share price

Village Roadshow is an entertainment company that operates cinemas and theme parks in addition to its film production and film distribution businesses. It was founded in 1954 and has since grown into an iconic Australian company. 

The Village Roadshow share price has increased 172.7% since its 52-week low of 77 cents, however, it is down 45.03% since the beginning of the year. The Village Roadshow share price is down 13.22% since this time last year.

More reading

• Village Roadshow locked in a capital raise as it secures new $70m facility

Motley Fool contributor Chris Chitty has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price may be under pressure today following heavy insider selling, but not all executives have been selling shares this week.

The Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price is storming higher on Friday after revealing a significant purchase of shares from an insider.

At the time of writing the medical device company’s shares are up an impressive 11% to $2.25.

What did PolyNovo announce?

This morning the medical device company released a change of director’s interests notice which revealed that its chairman has taken advantage of recent share price weakness to add to his holding.

According to the notice, David Williams bought 500,000 shares through an on market trade on 27 August for an average of ~$2.04 per share. This equates to a total consideration of approximately $1,020,000.

Following the purchase, Mr Williams owns a total of 18,500,000 PolyNovo shares.

FY 2020 performance.

Judging by this purchase, it appears as though the chairman is confident the company will build on its performance in FY 2020.

For the 12 months ended 30 June 2020, the dermal regeneration solutions-focused medical device company delivered sales revenue growth of 104% to $19.1 million.

Management advised that this was driven by strong growth across all markets, but particularly in the United States. Thanks to the increasing popularity of its NovoSorb BTM product, the US business delivered a record quarterly sales result in the March quarter. It then followed this up with a 36% increase in sales during the June quarter.

Pleasingly, the company advised that it has been building a solid revenue base in trauma, reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, necrotising fasciitis, and general surgery. Furthermore, its Burn sales are also strong, with significant account penetration in accredited burn centres in all regions.

This appears to have positioned the company perfectly for more of the same in the year ahead.

More reading

• Why Costa, Flight Centre, Polynovo, & Pointsbet shares are storming higher
• Polynovo share price sinks lower despite doubling sales in FY 2020
• Mesoblast share price on watch after US regulatory approval
• Down 37% in 2 days! Is the Mesoblast share price a buy?
• Is the CSL share price the best ASX biotech buy right now?

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The LiveHire Ltd (ASX: LVH) share price is climbing today after the company released its results for FY 2020. At the time of writing, the LiveHire share price is up 5.63% to 37.5 cents after closing yesterday’s session at 35.5 cents.

What LiveHire does

LiveHire operates a cloud-based, online human resources productivity platform for sourcing and recruitment teams. It aims to deliver talent on demand for companies of all sizes.

LiveHire currently has 112 enterprise clients consisting of 105 across Australia and New Zealand and 7 in North America. The company has operations in all three major workforce markets. These include direct sourcing of contractor talent, internal mobility and redeployment of existing employees, and recruitment of new employees.

What’s driving the LiveHire share price?

FY 2020 was a big year for LiveHire as it entered the North American market and continued growing its revenue. Investors are driving up the LiveHire share price after the company reported solid revenue growth year on year (YOY) of 31.8% to $3.45 million. Of this, 84% of revenue occurred via recurring streams demonstrating strong customer satisfaction.

Another important metric to track with software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies is annual recurring revenue (ARR). This provides a 12-month forward view of recurring revenue, demonstrating the company’s future prospects. On this front, the hiring company posted strong YOY ARR growth of 38% that was delivered mainly via Australian direct sales.

In terms of client growth, there were 43 client wins in the period across a range of industries, thus closing the year with 112 clients, which equated to a 42% increase. LiveHire is building a pipeline of clients through direct sales in Australia and partnerships in both Australia and the United States, with a focus on new client wins in both markets.

Some other highlights of the report included the growth in cash receipts up to $4.5 million, representing 43% YOY growth. This left LiveHire with a strong balance sheet and a cash balance of $21 million with no debt. As such, the company remains well funded to continue future growth opportunities.

Furthermore, the company’s business restructure has been completed following its accelerated software development phase in FY 20 to open up international markets.

What now for the LiveHire share price?

Looking forward, LiveHire aims to use its recent US expansion to boost revenue. The US expansion, through its channel partners, should bring speed to revenue generation via the direct sourcing market. The revenue stream will grow as more customers are won and each contract ramps up to its full deployment. The LiveHire share price is currently trading 63% higher for 2020. If its expansion efforts continue to be successful, there is no reason why the LiveHire share price won’t go on climbing. 

More reading

• Village Roadshow share price lower on $100 million loss
• Polynovo share price rockets higher on insider buying news
• Hansen Technologies share price rockets 19% higher on FY20 results
• A2 Milk share price lower after Chairman, CEO, COO, and other execs sell millions of shares
• ASX shares are on track for new record highs. Here’s why…

Motley Fool contributor Daniel Ewing has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) share price has shot for the stars today after the company released its FY20 results.

The Hansen share price is trading at $3.80, up 19.5% at the time of writing, after reaching an impressive high of $3.88 in morning trade today.

How did Hansen perform in FY20?

For the six months ending 30 June 2020, the leading global provider of software and services to the utilities and communication sectors reported a strong result for its full-year earnings.

Hansen reported a record revenue of $301.4 million, up 30% compared to the prior corresponding period. This was underpinned by a negligible impact from customers during COVID-19.  Increasing revenues of company owned IP of 97% and strong new logo wins contributed to organic revenue growth.

Underlying net profit after tax excluding amortisation jumped to $47.7 million, a surge of 41%.

Reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) expanded to $80.7 million. A 34% improvement and 26.8% margin on FY19 results. This was due to the integration of its Sigma business together with the rationalisation of the company’s low-cost base driven by COVID-19.

The strong revenue and EBITDA performance allowed Hansen to generate a positive cash flow from operating activities of $44.2 million. In turn, the company repaid creditors $34.9 million to reduce its net debt position to $116.5 million.

Earnings per share leapt 40% to 23.9 cents.

The company strengthened its balance sheet with cash on hand of $44.4 million.

The Hansen board declared a partially franked dividend of 7 cents per share to be paid on 25 September.

What did management say?

Hansen’s founder and CEO, Andrew Hansen said:

The FY20 result was a record result for Hansen across all key metrics, delivered against the backdrop of a global pandemic and the associated uncertainty. It makes me very proud to deliver to our shareholders an outcome like this. As I reflect on the second half of 2020, with our staff working from home and our customers looking to us for reassurance that their systems would not falter, the outstanding team work of the company’s global staff delivered the outcomes our customers were looking for.

This result proves the long-term resilience of our business model of growing revenues and EBITDA … by the value accretive aggregation of strategically targeted businesses.

FY21 outlook

Due to the economic uncertainty that COVID-19 has caused, the company did not provide any earnings guidance for FY21.

However, the board will update the market with the company’s ongoing progress in the first half-year of results.

Management remained cautious during the short-term with an exciting outlook ahead. Specific items of focus for 2021 include developing cross-selling opportunities into the energy market, and leverage of investment in Sigma’s intellectual property. Furthermore, Hansen aims to improve customer delivery and group margins through its low-cost development centres.

About the Hansen share price

The Hansen share price has made a stunning recovery of late, rising 46% from its low of $2.62 reached in April.  For the calendar year, the Hansen share price is trading up almost 10%.

More reading

• Village Roadshow share price lower on $100 million loss
• Polynovo share price rockets higher on insider buying news
• LiveHire share price 6% higher on strong revenue growth
• A2 Milk share price lower after Chairman, CEO, COO, and other execs sell millions of shares
• ASX shares are on track for new record highs. Here’s why…

Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Hansen Technologies. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hansen Technologies. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price has come under pressure today and is dropping lower.

In afternoon trade the fresh milk and infant formula company’s shares are down 2.5% to $17.55.

Why is the a2 Milk Company share price dropping lower?

As well as general market weakness, investors have been selling the company’s shares after it revealed heavy insider selling following its full year results release.

According to a change of director’s interests notice, the company’s Chair and Non-Executive Director David Hearn has offloaded a large number of shares this week.

The notice reveals that Mr Hearn sold 250,000 of the company’s New Zealand listed shares through an on market trade on 24 August for an average of NZ$20.31 per share (~A$18.57). This represents a total consideration of NZ$5,077,500 or approximately A$4,642,500.

It also represents 19.1% of the chairman’s holding, reducing his stake down from 1,305,000 shares to 1,055,000 shares.

More selling.

Mr Hearn isn’t the only seller of shares. In a series of other notices filed with the NZX, and not the ASX, it was revealed that the company’s chief executive has been selling shares as well. Geoffrey Babidge sold 100,000 shares on market on 24 August.

But the biggest seller of all has been the Asia Pacific chief executive, Peter Nathan. After exercising 800,000 options at NZ$0.63 per option on 19 August, he swiftly sold 750,000 shares between 24 August and 26 August for an average of NZ$20.12 or a total consideration of almost NZ$15.1 million. He is left owning 100,000 shares.

Joining the selling was Chief Growth and Brand Officer Susan Massasso and Chief Operations Officer Shareef Khan.

Massasso offloaded 541,391 shares through on market trades. Whereas Khan exercised 400,000 options for NZ$0.63 and then promptly sold 200,000 shares for NZ$19.87 per share.

No explanation was given for the share sales, which is disappointing given the magnitude of these transactions.

More reading

• Why a2 Milk, Appen, Huon, & Newcrest shares are tumbling lower
• These ASX ETFs will give you exposure to China’s growing middle class
• Where to invest $5,000 into ASX shares immediately
• 3 big surprises from the a2 Milk Company full year results
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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