Investors head into Monday's session digesting a split Friday close and a first full week of third-quarter earnings. The Dow finished at 52,134.63, down 0.08 per cent on the day but up 0.93 per cent for the week, while the S&P 500 fell 0.58 per cent Friday and 1.43 per cent on the week, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.28 per cent Friday for a 3.64 per cent weekly decline — described by market commentators as its worst weekly stretch in months.
Among the bank and insurance names reporting Friday, Travelers posted third-quarter earnings per share of $9.18 against $7.07 expected, on revenue of $12.45 billion, though its shares gave back about three per cent after a strong year-to-date run. Citizens Financial reported net income of $636 million, up 29 per cent year over year, raised its quarterly dividend 13 per cent to $0.52 a share, and expanded its buyback capacity to $1.95 billion. Regions Financial and M&T Bank also beat earnings estimates.
On the insider tape, filings disclosed on October 16 show Moderna president Stephen Hoge sold 39,145 shares on October 15 at an average price of $220.72, for a total of about $8.64 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, and Hoge retained 1,636,565 shares. He also sold 39,224 shares on October 14 at $213.48. Moderna shares traded down $18.49 to $218.01 in midday Friday trading on above-average volume.
Separately, Everpure director Scott Dietzen sold 60,000 shares on October 14 at $141.60, totalling about $8.5 million, according to an SEC filing; he retained 70,000 shares. These are disclosed transactions reported from regulatory filings, presented as market news only and not as a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
