Something worth watching on Netflix: executive stock sales. In recent months, as Netflix stock nearly doubled to around $100, finance chief Barry McCarthy sharply increased his stock sales, according to Gradient Analytics. Filings show that using a prearranged trading plan, he cashed in about 188,000 options in the first quarter—exercisable at as low as $14.50 a share—compared with only 31,339 in the fourth quarter of last year.
The increased rate of Mr. McCarthy's sales, apparently triggered as the stock hit $65 and then $75, struck something of a discordant note from his comments on the company's earnings conference call last month. At that time, he made clear that the rally hadn't dimmed the company's willingness to repurchase its stock, which it did in the first quarter at an average price of $65. "We have pretty aggressive targets at which we're willing to buy the stock and so far, so good," he said.
