16 MGM directors, execs buy thousands of shares amid virus stock impact

Sixteen board directors and executives are betting big on MGM Resorts International stock, purchasing deferred and restricted shares, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings late Wednesday.

MGM shares, like most in the gaming sector, have been hammered over the past week with anticipated revenue downturns resulting from resort closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Even before Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered casinos closed for 30 days Tuesday, MGM planned to shutter its Las Vegas resorts for at least two weeks.

On Wednesday, MGM shares were down $2.41, 25.2 percent, to $7.14 on volume more than four times the daily average. Just over a month ago, shares were trading at $33.

But after the market closed, 16 statements of changes in beneficial ownership of securities were filed with the SEC.

Adhering to the maxim of “buy low and sell high,” outgoing Chairman and CEO Jim Murren acquired 6,000 shares of restricted stock units.

Other executives buying shares included William Hornbuckle, president and chief operating officer; Robert Selwood, executive vice president and chief accounting officer; John McManus, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary; and Atif Rafiq, president of commercial and growth.

Shares also were acquired by directors William Grounds, Alexis Herman, Roland Hernandez, John Kilroy, Rose McKinney-James, Keith Meister, Paul Salem, Gregory Spierkel, Janet Swartz and Daniel Taylor.

Murren sold more than $22 million of the company’s common stock in late February.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.