Netflix chief stepped up sales in '06

EXECS CASH IN AS COMPANY'S SHARES MEANDER

By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News

Netflix stock had a slightly down year in 2006. That didn't matter much to insiders who had a good year selling their stock in the online DVD rental service.

The stock started 2006 trading at $27.06 and closed the year at $25.86. Along the way, it climbed as high as $33.12 and dipped as low as $18.12. While the company hasn't posted its annual revenue numbers for 2006, the first nine months saw revenue climb 47.1 percent and profit jump almost 800 percent over the same period in 2005.

Despite investors' mixed reaction to this performance, five insiders still sold $78.4 million worth of stock in 2006, up from $9.1 million in 2005. Since the company's initial public offering in May 2002, insiders have sold $469.3 million worth of stock.

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