Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) shares are in the green today.
Again.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) health imaging company closed yesterday at $256.73. In early morning trade on Wednesday, they are changing hands for $259.01 apiece, up 0.9%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.3% at this same time.
As you can see on the chart above, Pro Medicus shares have been shooting the lights out of late, up 192% over the past year. And if that's not enough, the stock also trades on a slender 0.2% fully franked trailing dividend yield.
Which brings us to the sale of two million shares by the company's co-founders.
Two million Pro Medicus shares for $513.5 million
This morning, the health imaging company confirmed media speculations that its co-founders, Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall, both sold one million Pro Medicus shares at yesterday's closing price of $256.73 a share.
In other words, they've each just pocketed a cool $256.7 million.
Hall and Hupert launched the company in 1983. Pro Medicus listed on the ASX 17 years later, in October 2000.
While the stock has broadly trended higher since then, it didn't lift off right away. In August 2001, you could have bought shares for just 90 cents each.
If only!
The board noted that the co-founders' share sale "was in response to strong approaches from a number of high-quality funds", and that the shares were not sold at a discount to market prices.
The board also highlighted that the two million shares represented less than 4% of both Hall's and Hupert's stockholdings in the company. The co-founders remain the two largest shareholders, owning more than 24 million shares each.
There are a total of 104.5 million Pro Medicus shares outstanding.
According to the board, Hupert and Hall "are actively engaged in the company as executives and board members and are committed to its future. They remain the two key stake holders in the company with their combined holding post this recent sale of 46%."
Both co-founders said they had no plans to sell any additional Pro Medicus shares in the foreseeable future.
Commenting on the sale, Pro Medicus chairman Peter Kempen said:
This sale of shares by the founders is part of a progressive sell down, which provides prospective shareholders with the opportunity to invest in the company and ultimately will increase the free float.
Should you follow suit?
Every investor needs to decide what's right or their own personal situation.
Broadly speaking, Pro Medicus shares have been storming higher on the back of strong, ongoing growth.
At its full-year FY 2024 results, the company reported a 29.3% year on year increase in revenue to $161.5 million. Net profit soared 36.5% to $82.8 million.
Hupert also sounded a positive note on the company's outlook at the time, saying, "We have a bit over 7% of the total addressable market (TAM) in the US and growing, so there is still a huge amount of runway ahead of us."
Indeed, Bell Potter believes Pro Medicus shares can still move higher from here (courtesy of The Australian).
The broker just upped its price target for Pro Medicus shares by 100% to $260.00.
