Robert Davis, the chief executive of Net directory Lycos, filed to sell off 60,000 Lycos shares, perhaps indicating dwindling faith that his stock will continue to run up, analysts said.
According to CDA Investnet, a firm that tracks insider buying and selling, Davis sold or plans to sell 60,000 shares. If those shares were sold at today's closing price of US$110.37 a share, they would bring in $6.62 million.
"The fact that he's selling indicates he's a bit incredulous the stock will maintain such highs," said Nancy Fedorowicz, research analyst at CDA Investnet. "He'd rather have cash in hand than stock."
Lycos (LCOS), which is in the process of buying the parent company of Wired News, has seen its stock soar in recent weeks amid speculation that it may be bought by a larger Internet or media company. On Monday, Davis said no deal is imminent and the company plans to remain independent.
Davis' sell off "is a small part of his Lycos stock, and a normal part of executive diversification," said Madeline Mooney, spokeswoman at Lycos. "He still has a lot of investment in Lycos."
Fedorowicz said a group of Lycos affiliates also plan to sell stock, including CMG Information Services (CMGI), an investor in Lycos. CMGI sold or plans to sell a total of 900,000 shares. At Tuesday's closing price, the shares would be worth $99.3 million.
CMGI confirmed the number of shares, but not their valuation. "That's nothing unusual for us," said Catherine Taylor, investor-relations director at CMGI. CMGI owned 80 percent of Lycos in 1995, she said.
Lycos' stock closed up $5.19, or 5 percent, at $110.37 a share.
