VistaPrint went public on September 30, 2005. The stock price closed at $15.25 that day. On Friday November 17, 2006, the price closed at $34.30 - a hefty gain and a rich valuation. The company had annual revenue of $152 million in fiscal year 2006 but a current market cap of nearly $1.5 billion!

Why has the stock been such a strong performer? Incredible earnings and revenue growth. On October 23 2006, VistaPrint reported that revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 surged 73% to $50 million and net income came in at $6 million, up from $2.9 million in the same period a year ago. The company’s computer integrated manufacturing process and patents allow it to process about 16,000 orders per day. Its user base stands at nearly 8 million.

With VistaPrint's stock price gain, solid financial performance and the newness of VistaPrint’s listing on the public market we decided to review insider buying and selling activity. Here is a summary of activity for the last 12 months based on SEC fillings:

Robert Keane, Chairman and CEO - Sold 296,000 shares in 128 transactions.

Janet Holian, Executive VP and CMO - Sold 380,000 shares in 53 transactions.

Anne Drapeau, Executive VP and CPO - Sold 20,000 shares in 2 transactions.

Alexander Schowtka, Executive VP and COO - Sold 413,336 in 14 transactions.

Paul Flanagan, Former CFO - Sold 237,500 in 2 transactions. (Flanagan resigned on July 3, 2006. Harpreet Grewal was named CFO on July 31, 2006. Flanagan’s selling is a result of his leaving the company.)

In the past 12 months, insiders have sold 1,885,422 shares in 254 transactions. Only one insider has purchased shares in one transaction. Board director, George Overholser, purchased 13,100 shares in August 2006.

With such a run-up in stock price, it appears that VistaPrint’s officers and directors may think now is a good time to sell some of their holdings. Some have adopted a trading plan which essentially makes selling automatic. It should also be noted that although management other than Robert Keane do not hold shares outright, over 15% of the company's fully diluted shares are held by management via stock options.

Keane’s automatic selling programs trigger two times each month. In total, since the IPO, this was under 15% of his total holdings. Keane says this is purely to diversify his family's wealth, which is still over 90% in the form of VistaPrint shares. His family is giving over a million dollars to charities this year, which may show up as additional sales.

Janet Holian is not selling her personal holdings. However, her husband Bruce Twickler was an early venture investor in VistaPrint and he is selling via an automatic planned program. Because he is Janet's spouse, the SEC requires filings. Janet personally, in her name other than Bruce's holdings, holds options for over 500,000 shares.

Other management is selling between zero and 40% of their holdings - Keane thinks the average is about 20%.

Highland Capital Partners invested heavily in VistaPrint before the company went public in August 2003 and August 2004. Highland's investment was the largest in the firm's history. As of October 2005, Highland owned 6,092,457 shares. Since then, Highland has sold 4,873,319 shares.

Fergal Mullen, a general partner at the venture capital firm, served on the Board of VistaPrint. He decided to not stand for re-election at the end of his present term which ended on November 14, 2006. According to one financial analyst, his departure from the board and the firm’s rapid selling of their holdings is "normal activity" for an early stage investment firm.

When asked about the insider selling activity, Robert Keane stated, "The vast majority of insider selling is by our venture capital backers and related parties, which is perfectly normal following an IPO. As to management selling, this remains a small minority of total shareholdings and option holdings. The entire management team remains excited about the future of VistaPrint, and the top six managers at VistaPrint each have over 70% of their personal net worth tied up in VistaPrint shares."