COO Bets Big on Uber as Corvex Dumps Illumina

Insider filings this month show a clear split: one top executive buying with conviction while an activist fund heads for the exit.

UBER President and COO Andrew MacDonald filed purchases totalling $5.3 million on September 4, disclosed on September 8. He bought 70,000 shares across two tranches at roughly $75 each. With Uber's market cap sitting at $143 billion, a $5.3M bet by the company's number-two executive carries real weight. No 10b5-1 plan was noted, making this a discretionary buy — the stronger signal.

At ILMN, the story is the opposite. Activist hedge fund Corvex Management, which holds a board seat, sold over $34 million worth of Illumina shares across two days in early September. Corvex sold 100,650 shares on September 4 and another 57,488 shares on September 2. The genomics firm has a short interest of nearly 7% of free float.

Two directors at HELP (Cybin Inc.) also filed sizeable open-market purchases — Eric So and Paul Glavine each bought 100,000 shares, spending roughly $1.2 million apiece on September 3-4. The psychedelic medicine biotech has a market cap just over $1 billion.

Meanwhile, the MGM situation remains the day's headline story, with People Inc. holding a 27% stake and Barry Diller reportedly withdrawing his bid for a majority position.