One of the newest members of the U.S. Senate has taken congressional stock trading to new heights, with more than 700 trades disclosed. Here’s what the senator was buying and selling and why the trades are drawing attention.
Senator Alan Armstrong Sells Stocks and Goes Shopping
Sen. Alan Armstrong (R-OK) recently disclosed stock transactions dating back to March, as tracked by the Benzinga Government Trades page.
These are the first disclosed trades by Armstrong, who was appointed to the Senate this year to replace Markwayne Mullin, who left for a Cabinet position.
Armstrong is the former CEO of Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB), an oil and gas company.
Williams Companies was the largest transaction made by Armstrong in the disclosure, with the senator selling between $5 million and $25 million in WMB stock. The senator also sold between $250,000 and $500,000 in WMB stock options.
A total of 703 trades were estimated at $25 million or more, with at least $7.66 million in stock purchases and at least $17.37 million in stock sales, according to data from Quiver Quantitative.
Most of the transactions were in the $1,000 to $15,000 and $15,000 to $50,000 transaction range. Here are the largest buys disclosed by Sen. Armstrong, with the trades all dating back to March.
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL): Bought $250,000 to $500,000 in shares
- ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML): Bought $50,000 to $100,000 in shares
- Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK): Bought $50,000 to $100,000 in shares
- Alphabet Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG): Bought $50,000 to $100,000 in shares
- NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA): Bought $50,000 to $100,000 in shares
Based on the size of the trades, Armstrong is favoring technology stocks going forward and many of the top purchases were Magnificent Seven stocks.
Apple, Alphabet and Nvidia were three of the senator’s five largest trades. Among Magnificent Seven stocks, Armstrong also disclosed buying stock in Amazon.com, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla, but in smaller amounts.
Late Disclosing Draws Red Flags
The STOCK Act requires members of Congress to report their stock transactions within 45 days. With the trades made by Armstrong dating back to March, they were made four months ago.
Unusual Whales flagged the disclosures, noting Armstrong reported more than 700 stock trades “with nearly all filed well beyond the STOCK Act’s 45-day reporting deadline,” the account tweeted.
Unusual Whales highlighted that the current penalty is $200 for violating the STOCK Act.
“Senator Alan Armstrong just disclosed hundreds of stock trades made in late March, just days after he entered office. He JUST filed them – months past the deadline. This has got to be a record for the quickest STOCK ACT violation ever,” Quiver Quantitative tweeted.
Benzinga will continue to monitor the trading activity of Sen. Armstrong going forward.
Image via Shutterstock
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