Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has found itself in the crosshairs of a crypto selloff that has also weighed on its common stock. One insider saw a buying opportunity in the company’s preferred stock.
Director Jane Dietze bought 1,100 shares of STRC preferred stock for $95.28 apiece on Nov. 21, according to a Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Dietze, the chief investment officer of Brown University, has been on the board since December 2024.
The purchase brought her direct holdings to 2,600 shares of STRC preferred, valued at $251,316 based on Friday’s closing price of $96.66.
The transaction comes nearly a month after director Jarrod Patten bought 23,780 shares of STRC preferred stock through two separate purchases on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17, according to a separate securities filing.
They aren’t the only insiders buying. A handful of company executives snapped up STRC preferred in September, including executive vice president Wei-Ming Shao and CEO Phong Le, who held the stock indirectly through his children.
Strategy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment or to make any of the executives available for comment. Brown’s investment office also didn’t respond to a request late Friday.
Strategy’s preferred stocks cater to an array of investor appetites, with varying dividend rates and conversion options. The offerings allow Strategy to raise capital to fund its Bitcoin purchases without diluting common shareholders.
STRC is meant to provide a high dividend yield with lower volatility than common stock. It is a perpetual security, meaning it has no maturity date, similar to the common stock. The dividend rate is fixed monthly to encourage trading around the stock’s $100 par value and to reduce price volatility, according to the company.
The lower volatility might seem inviting at a time when crypto-linked stocks have whipsawed along with the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization slipped beneath the $90,000 mark on Nov. 18, its first drop below that level since April, though it was back above that level on Friday.
Strategy’s common stock has been beaten down in November’s crypto selloff. The stock has cratered 38% over the month through Friday, following a 19% slump in Bitcoin. STRC preferred has fallen just 2%, in line with the Nasdaq Composite.
The difference is more pronounced over a longer period. Strategy has fallen 48% over the three months through Friday, compared with a 19% drop in Bitcoin. The STRC preferred is largely unchanged over the same period, while the Nasdaq is up 7.7%.
On Nov. 24, the company chose not to issue an update to its Bitcoin holdings, indicating it didn’t buy any cryptocurrency in the preceding seven days or issue securities under any of its at-the-market offerings.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
