GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen bought 1,150,680 shares of GME stock for roughly $26.4 million on Monday, according to a securities filing, pushing his total stake past 40 million shares. The purchase extends a run of insider buying that started earlier this month. It comes as Cohen weighs a partnership alternative to his rejected bid for eBay.
GameStop Corp. CEO Ryan Cohen purchased 1,150,680 shares of GameStop Class A common stock on Monday, spending roughly $26.4 million and pushing his total stake past 40 million shares, according to a Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His direct holdings now stand at 40,498,522 shares.
The weighted average price across the transactions was $22.9375 per share, with execution prices ranging from $22.76 to $23.02. No Rule 10b5-1 designation appears on the filing, indicating Cohen did not execute the purchase through a pre-scheduled trading plan. GameStop stock closed up 0.53% at $22.76 on Monday and rose about 3% in postmarket trading.
Insider buying accelerates
Monday's purchase continues a stretch of insider accumulation. Cohen bought one million shares on Sept. 10 at an average price near $20.38, and three GameStop directors — Lawrence Cheng, James Grube, and Alain Attal — also bought shares that same week. Monday's per-share cost represented a premium of more than 12% compared with what Cohen paid 11 days before.
Earnings beat comes with a smaller top line
In its most recent quarter, GameStop reported adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share, while revenue came in at $790.2 million, down 18.7% from the same period a year ago. The quarter's $160.2 million operating income set a new high-water mark for the company, and management increased its full-year adjusted EBITDA outlook to exceed $650 million.
eBay bid may turn into a partnership
Cohen has been pursuing a major acquisition while building his personal stake. GameStop put forward a non-binding proposal to acquire all of eBay's outstanding shares at $125 apiece, split evenly between cash and GameStop stock, valuing eBay's equity at roughly $55.5 billion.
eBay's board rejected the offer, calling it "neither credible nor attractive." GameStop has said it intends to keep pressing.
More recently, Cohen has been considering withdrawing the takeover bid in favor of a partnership or joint venture with eBay, under which GameStop's roughly 1,600 U.S. stores would give eBay a physical retail footprint in categories such as trading cards and collectibles. GameStop had not made a final decision as of that report.
In July, GameStop disclosed it had increased its eBay stake to 9.75%, making it eBay's second-largest shareholder behind Vanguard Group funds.
At GameStop's current market cap of roughly $10.2 billion, Cohen's direct stake represents approximately 9% of the company.
Source: Quartz
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
