Admiral director stocks up following upbeat note from Merrill Lynch

12th Nov 2012 16:15

Cheryl Sussens, the wife of the Non-Executive Director John Sussens, has bought 10,000 shares in car insurer Admiral, a purchase which follows a positive note out from analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch last Friday. Sussens, who was appointed as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director in August 2004, handed over 1,064p per share and paid a total of £106,400. Friday's note - which upgraded the stock from underperform to buy - and boosted the company's shares by 24p at the end of last week, led to another jump higher, by 33p, on Monday. In the note, Analyst William Hardcastle said: "We are shifting our focus [...] to the 2013 estimated dividend yield of 9.1%. This is now the highest in the sector (and FTSE 100) following 18 percentage point relative underperformance since 2011 results, and can't be ignored in our view. We now see Admiral as an income rather than growth stock."The note continued: "We are now forecasting just 4% volume growth, in line with its distribution channel, and already have margin deterioration as a result of the price declines baked in." Shares in the company have soared 29.76%, equal to 250p, in the past year. In the past week alone the stock has gained 23p, equal to 2.16%. Top Director BuysAdmiral Group (ADM) Director name: Mr John SussensAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 1,064.00p Value: £106,400DotDigital Group (DOTD) Director name: Ms Simone Jennifer Mary BarrattAmount purchased: 215,000 @ 13.00p Value: £27,950JPMorgan US Smaller Companies Inv Trust (JUSC) Director name: Ms Julia Le BlanAmount purchased: 1,500 @ 1,003.00p Value: £15,045Top Director SellsGETECH Group (GTC) Director name: Dr James Derek FairheadAmount sold: 4,500,000 @ 42.00p Value: £1,890,000ARM Holdings (ARM) Director name: Mr Young K SohnAmount sold: 84,000 @ 710.04p Value: £596,434