Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Microsoft stock has lost ground in the new year, and GlaxoSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley, who serves the software giant as a director, bought up the shares.
Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) stock surged 51% in 2021, crushing the 27% rise in the S&P 500 index. In the new year, however, the shares were down 8.2% heading into Wednesday’s trading session, while the index was 4.6% in the red. The shares took a hit after management disclosed an agreement to buy videogame maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI) in mid-January, although strong earnings and an upbeat outlook helped bolster shares later in the month.Walmsley paid $1 million on Jan. 28 for 3,300 Microsoft shares, a per-share average price of $303.26, according to a form she filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. She now owns 8,818 Microsoft shares.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) didn’t immediately respond to a request to make Walmsley available for comment.
Walmsley last purchased Microsoft stock on the open market less than a year ago. She paid $1 million in March 2021 for 4,300 shares, an average per-share price of $236.80.
Walmsley joined Microsoft’s board in December 2019. In 2020, she was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire for services to the pharmaceutical industry and business.
Barron’s thinks Microsoft is a good way to play the cloud, if not videogames. The market seems to be pessimistic about the deal for Activision, given that the stock has been trading at a discount to Microsoft’s agreed acquisition price.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
