Directors deals: Pearson's top brass buys in, but analysts unconvinced

Pearson's top brass put their money where their mouth is, picking up shares of the education at multi-year lows.

Boss John Fallon bought 23,728 shares for 754p apiece on 5 May, shelling out £179,004 in the process.

Finance chief Coram Williams was right behind him, buying £37,750-worth of stock, alongside chairman Sidney Taurel, who bought 7,300 American Depositary Receipts via the NYSE for a total transaction amount $68,681, the company said in a statement.

Shares of Pearson finished the session 12.39% higher at 739.50p having overcome a first area of so-called technical resistance in the form of their downward trendline from the early-2015 highs.

Earlier on the same day, Pearson published a trading update for the first three months of the 2017 fiscal year which was in-line with guidance provided by the firm at the time of its costly profit-warning which it delivered alongside its most recent full-year figures, according to analysts at ShoreCap.

Despite that, ShoreCap's Roddy Davidson maintained his 'Sell' recommendation on the stock, explaining to clients that the shares' then current 2017 and 2018 price-to-earnings multiples of 13.7 and 13.4 times earnings looked "stretched".

The company still faced "substantial" organisational and cultural changes in order to ralign itself to a digital future in what amounted to a "complex" process of change, the analyst said, and risks to expectations for lower EPS and dividend payouts in those two years already lay to the downside.

Top Director Buys

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Fallon,John
Amount purchased: 23,728 @ 754.40p
Value: £179,004.04

Sthree (STHR)
Director name: Hughes,Justin
Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 316.88p
Value: £95,064.30

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 12,700 @ 725.50p
Value: £92,138.50

Countrywide (CWD)
Director name: Ceeney,Natalie
Amount purchased: 21,316 @ 160.91p
Value: £34,299.58

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 2,700 @ 725.16p
Value: £19,579.32

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 2,100 @ 725.94p
Value: £15,244.74

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ 726.71p
Value: £14,534.20

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 400 @ 724.39p
Value: £2,897.56

Countrywide (CWD)
Director name: Ceeney,Natalie
Amount purchased: 1,751 @ 159.86p
Value: £2,799.15

Cairn Energy (CNE)
Director name: Heaton,Richard
Amount purchased: 941 @ 191.28p
Value: £1,799.94

Cairn Energy (CNE)
Director name: Smith ,James
Amount purchased: 941 @ 191.28p
Value: £1,799.94

Cairn Energy (CNE)
Director name: Thomson,Simon
Amount purchased: 941 @ 191.28p
Value: £1,799.94

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Taurel,Sidney
Amount purchased: 100 @ 728.25p
Value: £728.25

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Sethi,Naresh
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Abelman,Jerome
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Marroco,Tadeu
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Stevens,Ben
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Vandermeulen,Johan
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Giordano,Giovanni
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

British American Tobacco (BATS)
Director name: Durante,Nicandro
Amount purchased: 3 @ 5,261.27p
Value: £157.84

Schroder Uk Growth Fund (SDU)
Director name: Pirie,Stella J
Amount purchased: 79 @ 170.50p
Value: £134.70

Proteome Sciences (PRM)
Director name: Diggle ,Martin
Amount purchased: 1,329 @ 4.90p
Value: £65.12

Proteome Sciences (PRM)
Director name: Diggle ,Martin
Amount purchased: 240 @ 4.85p
Value: £11.64

Proteome Sciences (PRM)
Director name: Diggle ,Martin
Amount purchased: 240 @ 4.85p
Value: £11.64

Pearson (PSON)
Director name: Williams,Coram
Amount purchased: 5,000 @ n/a
Value: n/a

Top Director Sells

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE)
Director name: Rolet,Xavier
Amount sold: 53,500 @ 3,382.00p
Value: £1,809,369.98

Capita (CPI)
Director name: Parker,Andy
Amount sold: 55,686 @ 570.09p
Value: £317,460.32

Sainsbury (j) (SBRY)
Director name: Coupe,Michael Andrew
Amount sold: 86,095 @ 259.39p
Value: £223,321.82

Sainsbury (j) (SBRY)
Director name: Rogers,John
Amount sold: 52,757 @ 259.39p
Value: £136,846.38

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Fischel,David
Amount sold: 38,741 @ 278.80p
Value: £108,009.91

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Roberts,Matthew
Amount sold: 29,800 @ 278.80p
Value: £83,082.40

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Fischel,David
Amount sold: 15,869 @ 278.80p
Value: £44,242.77

Intu Properties (INTU)
Director name: Roberts,Matthew
Amount sold: 12,603 @ 278.80p
Value: £35,137.17