The Schering-Plough ceo is making good on his promise to buy $2 million worth of the drugmaker's common stock, a vow he made on January 18 after the preliminary Vytorin data caused a huge controversy. He couldn't do so immediately, though, until he received legal clearance. Now that first-quarter earnings have been reported, he snapped up about 110,000 shares at an average purchase price of $18.26 each.
"As I said when I announced my intention to purchase these shares in January, this investment in Schering-Plough reflects my long-term confidence in the company, its products - including Zetia and Vytorin - and our late-stage pipeline," Fred says in a statement.
However, Fred first intended to purchase the stock at $21.62 a share, which would have amounted to roughly 92,500 shares. So if Fred is to be believed about the drugmaker's prospects, he may one day pocket an even bigger profit. And while the stock has rebounded from $13.86 earlier this month, the shares are still down about 44 percent this year. So what better time is there to load the boat?
2 Comments
Heh -- synchronicity, it seems.
We each had the same thought, at about the same time. . . .
I do wonder whether the "non-disclosure" of the "known trends. . . and uncertainties" (re the $700M fall-off at the Merck/Schering J/V equity income line for 2008, averred by Dick Clark on Monday, and denied by Hassan on Wednesday), will ultimately pose a problem for Mr. Hassan:
Was all the information he "knew" made publicly-available -- when he bought?
'Tis perplexing, indeed.
Great post, Ed!
Information just reported on "Shearlings got Plowed" blog regarding Fred Hassan's recent stock award is absolutely obscene. And they say that entertainers and ballplayers aren't worth what they get paid! What about a CEO that gets rewarded with outrageous amounts of stock for laying off 10% or more of his employees? Big Pharma capitalism is a joke! These guys are squeezing every little drop of blood out of the turnip before the party ends.