Bodycote CEO ditches chunk of shares

Stephen Harris, who has held the role of Chief Executive Officer at FTSE 250 heat treatment firm Bodycote for over three years, sliced off a sizeable chunk of his shares on May 4th. Harris, who has also been a director of Spectris, ditched 94,000 shares at 421.00p each, earning himself the handsome sum of £395,740. He now holds 542,983 shares in the firm. The sale was made just a few days after the company announced plans to open a new surface technology plant in Houston, Texas. The new plant, scheduled to open during the third quarter of 2012, will enable Houston's large oil & gas market to access Bodycote's spray services, which prolong the life of components operating in extreme environments. Bodycote recently unveiled a strong first quarter and is on track to meet full-year forecasts. Revenue for the three months to the end of March was 6.9% higher than in the same period last year, while sales in its Aerospace, Defence & Energy division were ahead by 13.5% compared to the same period in 2011. The share price has risen just 1.3% in the past year, and is down over 10% in the last month.Top Director BuysInterQuest Group (ITQ) Director name: Mr Gary Goldsmith Amount purchased: 668,896 @ 59.80p Value: £400,000Sinclair Is Pharma (SPH) Director name: Mr Jean-Charles TschudinAmount purchased: 251,160 @ 26.60p Value: £66,809Kofax (KFX) Director name: Mr Reynolds Carl BishAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 260.00p Value: £52,000XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) Director name: Mr Larry TraceyAmount purchased: 4,000 @ 1,175.00p Value: £47,000Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) Director name: Mr Glyn Vincent HirschAmount purchased: 66,240 @ 61.00p Value: £40,406Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) Director name: Mr Anton John Godfrey BiltonAmount purchased: 64,759 @ 61.00p Value: £39,503Maven Income & Growth 3 VCT (MIG3) Director name: Mr Bill NixonAmount purchased: 45,000 @ 73.50p Value: £33,075Somero Enterprises Inc.(Reg S) (SOM) Director name: Mr Jack CooneyAmount purchased: 84,000 @ 23.50p Value: £19,740Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) Director name: Mrs Sara WellerAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 32.33p Value: £16,165Capital & Regional (CAL) Director name: Mr Charles StaveleyAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 29.29p Value: £14,645Top Director SellsBodycote (BOY) Director name: Mr Stephen C HarrisAmount sold: 94,000 @ 421.00p Value: £395,740Raven Russia Ltd (RUS) Director name: Mr Mark SinclairAmount sold: 173,000 @ 60.62p Value: £104,873NR Lloyds Bodycote Somero