The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price has been one of the worst performers on the ASX 200 on Wednesday.
In late morning trade the global wine giant's shares are down a sizeable 6% to $15.20. At one stage they were down as much as 7%.
Why is the Treasury Wine Estates sinking lower?
There appears to be two catalysts for today's selling. The first is the general market weakness brought about by trade war concerns after a top U.S. trade official suggested that higher tariffs on Chinese goods are coming this week.
A number of shares that export to China, such as A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) and Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL), have tumbled lower today, possibly over concerns that they may get caught up if China retaliates.
Another bit of news weighing on Treasury Wine Estates shares today is the selling of shares by its chief executive officer, Michael Clarke.
According to a change of director's interest notice, Mr Clarke sold 400,000 ordinary shares on market between May 1 and May 3. Mr Clarke received a total consideration of just under $6.9 million.
The company advised that the sales were made during the CEO's tight trading window and in accordance with its securities trading policy, including obtaining the required board pre-trade approvals which provided Mr Clarke with the clearance to trade.
Should you buy the dip?
Whilst insider selling rarely goes down well with investors, especially when it's the CEO, it is worth noting that Mr Clarke still has plenty of skin in the game.
Even after this sizeable sale, he has a total interest of 1,795,445 Treasury Wine Estates shares and 1,252,451 performance rights.
In light of this, I wouldn't panic and would suggest investors consider buying shares on today's weakness if they're prepared to make a long term investment.
