Directors dealings: Spirent Communications chief buys in

Spirent Communications chief Eric Hutchinson picked up a batch of shares in his company as the shares approached technical resistance towards 113.0p, which marked their best level since February 2014.

Hutchinson bought 182,713 shares at an individual price of 109p on 15 March, the company said in a statement, pocketing out a total of £198,928.78 in the process.

On 2 March, the test and service management solutions for the communications industry firm posted full-year 2016 revenues which softened to $457.9m, versus $477.1m in 2015.

Adjusted basic earnings per share were 5.29 cents, rising from 5 cents in 2015, while the company’s operating margin was 10.2%, improving from 8.8%.

Things weren’t so rosy on a reported basis, however, with Spirent swinging to a reported operating loss of $41.1m from a profit of $10.1m, and a reported loss before tax of $46m from $9.6m above the line in 2015.

Spirent also announced that as a result of its business review it had decided to narrow the company's focus and combine its existing units around three operations: Networks & Security, Lifecycle Service Assurance and Connected Devices.

That same day analysts at N+1 Singer downgraded their view on the stock from 'Buy' to 'Neutral' following the recent strong run for the shares.

"We believe the more focussed strategy is sensible, however after a strong run for the shares, we move to Hold while we asses the impact on our forecasts," N+1 said.

Top Director Buys

Purplebricks Group (PURP)
Director name: Bruce,Michael
Amount purchased: 3,666,667 @ 300.00p
Value: £11,000,001.00

Purplebricks Group (PURP)
Director name: Cartwright,Neil
Amount purchased: 1,000,000 @ 300.00p
Value: £3,000,000.00

Purplebricks Group (PURP)
Director name: Whitehorn,Will
Amount purchased: 250,000 @ 300.00p
Value: £750,000.00

Sdl (SDL)
Director name: Hernandez,Adolfo
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 528.33p
Value: £264,165.00

Spirent Communications (SPT)
Director name: Hutchinson,Eric G
Amount purchased: 182,713 @ 108.88p
Value: £198,928.78

Novae Group (NVA)
Director name: Fosh,Matthew K
Amount purchased: 13,008 @ 626.00p
Value: £81,430.08

Novae Group (NVA)
Director name: Patel,Reeken
Amount purchased: 9,025 @ 626.00p
Value: £56,496.50

Creightons (CRL)
Director name: OÂ’Shea,Nicholas
Amount purchased: 69,000 @ 17.40p
Value: £12,006.00

Sqs Software Quality Systems Ag (SQS)
Director name: Vos,Diederik (Dik)
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ 505.00p
Value: £10,100.00

The Sme Loan Fund (SMEF)
Director name: Stevenson ,David
Amount purchased: 10,256 @ 97.50p
Value: £9,999.60

Secure Property Development & Investment (di) (SPDI)
Director name: Domaille,Ian Charles
Amount purchased: 11,961 @ 21.40p
Value: £2,559.65

Secure Property Development & Investment (di) (SPDI)
Director name: Kaffas, Antonios
Amount purchased: 9,111 @ 21.40p
Value: £1,949.75

Secure Property Development & Investment (di) (SPDI)
Director name: Portela ,Álvaro
Amount purchased: 8,326 @ 21.40p
Value: £1,781.76

Secure Property Development & Investment (di) (SPDI)
Director name: Ensor,Paul
Amount purchased: 8,326 @ 21.40p
Value: £1,781.76

Secure Property Development & Investment (di) (SPDI)
Director name: Hoerhager,Franz
Amount purchased: 3,950 @ 21.40p
Value: £845.30

Johnson Matthey (JMAT)
Director name: Kelleher,Annette
Amount purchased: 15 @ 2,960.00p
Value: £444.00

Johnson Matthey (JMAT)
Director name: Garner,Nicholas
Amount purchased: 12 @ 2,960.00p
Value: £355.20

Johnson Matthey (JMAT)
Director name: Farrant,Simon
Amount purchased: 12 @ 2,960.00p
Value: £355.20

Bae Systems (BA.)
Director name: Woodburn,Charles
Amount purchased: 24 @ 637.12p
Value: £152.91

British Land Company (BLND)
Director name: Grigg,Chris
Amount purchased: 25 @ 608.68p
Value: £152.17

British Land Company (BLND)
Director name: Bell,Lucinda
Amount purchased: 25 @ 608.68p
Value: £152.17

Saga (SAGA)
Director name: Batchelor,Lance
Amount purchased: 74 @ 204.18p
Value: £151.09

Kingfisher (KGF)
Director name: Witts,Karen
Amount purchased: 44 @ 339.16p
Value: £149.23

Provident Financial (PFG)
Director name: Crook,Peter
Amount purchased: 5 @ 2,956.00p
Value: £147.80

Provident Financial (PFG)
Director name: Mullen,Ken
Amount purchased: 5 @ 2,956.00p
Value: £147.80

Provident Financial (PFG)
Director name: Fisher,Andrew C
Amount purchased: 5 @ 2,956.00p
Value: £147.80

British Land Company (BLND)
Director name: Roberts,Timothy Andrew
Amount purchased: 24 @ 608.68p
Value: £146.08

Bae Systems (BA.)
Director name: King,Ian
Amount purchased: 19 @ 637.12p
Value: £121.05

Top Director Sells

Novae Group (NVA)
Director name: Fosh,Matthew K
Amount sold: 11,580 @ 626.00p
Value: £72,490.80

Novae Group (NVA)
Director name: Patel,Reeken
Amount sold: 8,034 @ 626.00p
Value: £50,292.84

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Fischel,David
Amount sold: 15,567 @ 279.10p
Value: £43,447.50

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Roberts,Matthew
Amount sold: 12,337 @ 279.10p
Value: £34,432.57