Merck's Chief HR Officer Nets Over $5 Million In Open Market Sale -- Cashless Option Exercise On Monday

Again (as was true with Mr. Deese last week), this HR EVP's sale was all dictated by a so called 10b5-1 trading plan, so this doesn't say much about the executive's view on Merck's fortunes or operations.

It just says that she has diversified her holdings -- to the tune of $5.2 million. She still has over $5.5 million in Merck equity of various sorts. So, she is still keenly focused, I'd argue.

This automated robo-press-writing algorithm quotes a gross figure, not the net proceeds (and even then, the $5 million is pre-tax):

. . . .Mirian M. Graddick Weir sold 180,047 shares of the company’s stock on the open market in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.1555 (as disclosed in an amended SEC Form 4 filed 07.22.2014) 59.16, for a total value of $10,651,580.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,535,246. . . .

Nice work -- if you can get it.