Director dealings: Taptica boss ups stake to 9.5m ordinary shares

Hagai Tal, chief executive officer of mobile ad specialist Taptica International, purchased 47,500 ordinary shares in the firm on Wednesday, with a price tag of 300p attached to each and every one of them.

Tal, who following the transaction, was interested in 9,501,259 Taptica shares or 14.1% of the total voting rights of the company, has been the group's top man since December 2013.

The chief executive's pockets were £142,500 lighter as a result of the purchase.

Taptica beat both revenue and profit expectations when it turned in its annual report card last week, driven by a recent expansion into the Asia-Pacific region.

Sales jumped by 68% to $211m in 2017, while EBITDA increased by a third to $34.2m, both slightly higher than broker estimates.

As of 1600 GMT, the shares had lost 0.50% to 299.50p.

Top Director Buys

Polypipe Group (PLP)

Director name: Mr Ron Marsh

Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 350.50p

Value: £350,500

Taptica International (DI) (TAP)

Director name: Mr Hagai Tal

Amount purchased: 47,500 @ 300.00p

Value: £142,500

Polypipe Group (PLP)

Director name: Mr Martin Payne

Amount purchased: 40,000 @ 345.60p

Value: £138,240

IP Group (IPO)

Director name: Mr Alan John Aubrey

Amount purchased: 81,000 @ 121.00p

Value: £98,010

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA)

Director name: Mr Rod Paris

Amount purchased: 22,673 @ 367.76p

Value: £83,382

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA)

Director name: Mr Kevin A H Parry

Amount purchased: 14,246 @ 356.64p

Value: £50,807

IP Group (IPO)

Director name: Mr Mike Townend

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 121.00p

Value: £24,200

IP Group (IPO)

Director name: Mr Michael Humphrey

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 119.00p

Value: £23,800

JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM)

Director name: Dr Kevin Carter

Amount purchased: 6,000 @ 371.29p

Value: £22,277

IP Group (IPO)

Director name: Mr Jonathan Brooks

Amount purchased: 17,210 @ 116.40p

Value: £20,032

Top Director Sells

Prudential (PRU)

Director name: Mr Barry Stowe

Amount sold: 140,826 @ 1,751.34p

Value: £2,466,342

Prudential (PRU)

Director name: Mr Mike Wells

Amount sold: 140,736 @ 1,751.34p

Value: £2,464,766

British American Tobacco (BATS)

Director name: Mr Nicandro Durante

Amount sold: 58,921 @ 4,043.04p

Value: £2,382,200

Prudential (PRU)

Director name: Mr John W. Foley

Amount sold: 81,468 @ 1,747.42p

Value: £1,423,588

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)

Director name: Mr Dominic James Burke

Amount sold: 59,895 @ 1,284.00p

Value: £769,052

British American Tobacco (BATS)

Director name: Mr Andrew Gray

Amount sold: 17,189 @ 3,924.50p

Value: £674,582

British American Tobacco (BATS)

Director name: Mr Kingsley Wheaton

Amount sold: 13,619 @ 4,044.50p

Value: £550,820

British American Tobacco (BATS)

Director name: Mr Tadeu Marroco

Amount sold: 11,149 @ 3,988.00p

Value: £444,622

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)

Director name: Mr Dominic James Burke

Amount sold: 26,000 @ 1,284.00p

Value: £333,840

Prudential (PRU)

Director name: Mr James Turner

Amount sold: 11,150 @ 1,747.42p

Value: £194,837