Trump social-media stock 'DJT' rises as insiders hold on to their shares

By Steve Gelsi

Wednesday is first trading day after two-day filing window for insider transactions, with no fresh disclosures made

Trump Media & Technology Group Inc.'s stock was up nearly 11% on Wednesday as a two-day deadline passed with no fresh filings from insiders selling stock.

Tuesday was the end of the two-day requirement for stock sales to be disclosed if any company executive or inside shareholders, including majority shareholder Donald Trump, decided to sell all or parts of their ownership stakes.

Inside shareholders of Trump Media & Technology (DJT) were allowed to start selling their shares on Friday, which marked the end of the traditional six-month lockup period after the stock's debut, via a merger with the blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corp. in March.

The uncertainty around the lockup-expiration date has passed for the moment, with no additional shares of stock hitting the market and diluting the stock float.

Republican presidential nominee Trump, the former president, is the largest shareholder in Trump Media, with 114.75 million shares, or 57% of the company's outstanding stock.

Including Wednesday's trades, Trump Media stock is down 12% so far this week and down 38% in the past month, according to FactSet data.

In recent trades, the stock rose $1.34 to $14.13 a share.

At Tuesday's closing price of $12.79 a share, Trump's total stock cache in the niche social-media company was worth about $1.5 billion

Trump Media & Technology has been something of a meme stock that trades more on market perceptions regarding Trump's candidacy rather than fundamentals of the company, which remains tiny and unprofitable, with less than $840,000 in revenue in the second quarter and a quarterly loss of $16.4 million.

On the campaign front on Wednesday, Trump unveiled his economic plan on Tuesday, while his Democratic presidential rival Kamala Harris was set to air plans to encourage job creation on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Trump said he didn't plan to sell any of his shares of Trump Media & Technology.

If Trump were to change his mind and does sell shares in the near future, he could find himself in legal hot water, a securities lawyer told MarketWatch.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-25-24 1031ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.