Hmmm ... reviewing the details of Byrne's trades, I see things differently now. In the SEC filing it shows the first sale at $21.83. From this I assumed that the stock had already dropped from $29 to around that level when the trading took place, and therefore there must have been an event that happened earlier, such as advanced notice of the delay of the dividend. But looking at the details ...
1. $21.8353 is the weighted average sale price for the 1,505,123 shares sold on September 16, 2019. The shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $19.745 to $25.50 per share, inclusive. The reporting person will provide, upon request by the SEC staff, the issuer, or any security holder of the issuer, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price.
2. This Form 4 is filed jointly by Patrick M. Byrne and High Plains Investments LLC. Patrick M. Byrne holds 100% of the voting interest in and controls High Plains Investments LLC. The securities described herein are or were held directly by High Plains Investments LLC, which was a ten percent owner of the issuer. The address of High Plains Investments LLC is 700 Bitner Road, Park City, Utah 84098.
3. $18.6618 is the weighted average sale price for the 2,141,646 shares sold on September 17, 2019. The shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $17.57 to $20.35 per share, inclusive. The reporting person will provide, upon request by the SEC staff, the issuer, or any security holder of the issuer, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price.
4. $16.3183 is the weighted average sale price for the 1,056,690 shares sold on September 18, 2019. The shares were sold in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $16.01 to $17.28 per share, inclusive. The reporting person will provide, upon request by the SEC staff, the issuer, or any security holder of the issuer, full information regarding the number of shares sold at each separate price.
... he started selling at $25.50, which if you look at the chart for that time period (things were going up and down after the steep rise), is not such a remarkable drop. So is it possible that it was as much about the number of shares coming onto the market, rather than short sellers working with improperly obtained information? I guess the question still is how much short selling was done in the 9/16 to 9/18 timeframe. If there was impropriety, I wonder if there could be a lawsuit, and if so, would existing holders be involved or just people who bought in that timeframe.
