Insider: Directors pile into this Woodford stock

Allied Minds has had a pretty dire couple of years. And, despite the backing of star fund manager and major shareholder Neil Woodford, the shares collapsed in just one month from early March this year.

We reported early April how a $146 million write-down wiped more than £230 million off the Boston-based intellectual property investor's valuation in just one day. That's because Allied scrapped seven of its less-promising businesses.

Woodford, who owns 28% of the company, dismissed the Allied Minds plunge as "short-term noise", arguing that "share price movement can miss the longer-term opportunity".

A fortnight before the end of March crash, founder Chris Silva announced he was handing over the reins to non-executive director Jill Smith on an interim basis. Eleven weeks later she got the job full-time.

Having halved in weeks, and having continued to slide to a record low in the past few days, Smith has dug deep and spent £100,000 on 71,211 shares at 141p. A day later she put in another £15,000 at 140p.

Chairman Peter Dolan wanted a piece of the action, too. The former Bristol-Myers Squibb man forked out £117,000 for 83,800 shares at 139.9p.

But are they right? Is this the bottom for Allied Minds?

Well, Woodford's not giving up, and he's in it for the long term.

And Smith called the restructuring "a necessary step in refocusing the company on the areas where we have most potential".

"It places Allied Minds in a stronger position to capitalise on the exciting opportunities in front of us, and ultimately to deliver returns to shareholders over the medium term to longer term through accelerated commercialisation and monetisation, and portfolio growth."

The market clearly needs more convincing.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.