Hope van Beuren, whose grandfather John T. Dorrance invented condensed soup in 1897, and her husband John recently unloaded more shares of Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) than they have in years. The van Buerens, who report their holdings to the Securities & Exchange Commission separately, have reported transactions valued at more than $83 million from selling Campbell's stock over the past 18 months, according to InsiderScore.com (reg. required). They stepped up the pace of their sales significantly this week.
On September 11, Hope Van Beuren sold more than 304,000 shares, her biggest one-day sale since at least 2004, while John van Beuren disposed of more than 234,700, his biggest sale since 1998, according to InsiderScore. John van Beuren also sold another 4,800 shares a day later. And Hope van Bueren disposed of 56,500 shares on both September 10 and September 7.
No word on what prompted the sale. The van Beurens didn't respond to requests for comment left with one of their lawyers and at their foundation in Newport, Rhode Island. A Campbell spokesman also didn't respond to a request for comment.
The van Beurens and other Dorrance heirs in the past have sold large amonts of shares. Individuals whose wealth is tied to one stock do sell shares from time to time for a variety of reasons. Wall Street's sentiment toward Campbell is lukewarm at best. Its shares have dropped more than 8 percent this year amid worries about rising costs. Recently Campbell has begun trying to sell its Godiva chocolate business for more than $1 billion to focus on soup.
With a fortune estimated at $1 billion, Hope van Beuren ranks 297 on the Forbes magazine list of the 400 Richest Americans, which features her cousins Mary Alice Dorrance Malone (No. 140) of Coatesville, Pa. and Bennett Dorrance (No. 153), who both sit on the company's board.
