Critical Therapeutics CEO Abusing Stock Sale Program? (CRTX)

There are hundreds of filings each week disclosing sales of company stock according to pre-arranged plans. These so-called 10b5-1 plans require an executive to reserve a certain number of shares and then commit to selling a set amount each month (the normal duration) for a predetermined period of time. The intent is clearly a good one, since the drawn out schedule avoids the appearance that insiders are timing their sales to their own advantage. Pre-arranged plans benefit the insiders as well, because most companies have restrictive windows of a few days each quarter when insiders can buy and sell – such restrictions are designed to avoid any appearance of impropriety linked to a company’s most recent results.

But the fact that these plans have proliferated leads to a general sense that they are being abused. Case in point: Critical Therapeutics (CRTX) filed an 8-K a few weeks ago announcing that the CEO had terminated his 10b5-1 plan after selling only 40,000 shares over the past 4 months instead of the allotted 180,000 shares over 18 months. Initial sales were at $8.65 but deteriorated to $6.48 at the end of January when the last of the pre-arranged sales was made. And it might not surprise you that today, CRTX’s stock price is $5.49. In short, business as usual.