Westell Buys 1M Shares; Did Someone See This Coming?

$61 million (market cap) broadband modem maker Westell Technologies (WSTL) this evening reported that since July 28, the company has purchased 963,481 of its shares on the open market, about 2% of its float of 41.8 million shares. The company also said its interim CEO, Bernard Sergesketter, has purchased 100,000 shares on his own in that period. That was an additional 40,000 shares on top of the 60,000 the company announced on August 12 that Sergesketter had already purchased.

Wonder if someone knew something. The shares were up almost 5% today at 86 cents prior to tonight’s release. Some of the share buying was already known thanks to that Aug. 12 note, but not the entire scope of the buying, and tonight’s disclosure about Sergesketter’s 40,000 additional shares is new information. Westell shares have fallen 40% this year, as sales have fallen precipitously and its plans to seek strategic alternatives for parts of its business have fallen apart. On July 23, the company revised a previously released fiscal 1Q press release to reduce by 30% the actual amount of new orders it got from some customers. And earlier in July, the CEO left the company. So, it hasn’t been a terribly good time at Westell, and prior to today’s jump, the shares had merely treaded water the last 30 days.

The next question is, Do insiders currently know something about a strategic initiative coming down the road?