Martha Stewart just dumped more chunks of stock in her old company

Martha Stewart is selling stock again — and this time she’s practically thumbing her nose at anybody who has a question about it.

As reported by The Post, the domestic diva had attracted attention last month by selling shares in Sequential Brands Group — two days before Bloomberg reported that the licensing firm was preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing.

Stewart — who was a director at Sequential until late March despite the fact the company sold her brand in 2015 — cashed out 6,266 shares on June 4 and June 7, netting more than $67,000 as she sold them at an average price of $10.78. On June 9, Bloomberg reported that Sequential might resort to Chapter 11 as it negotiates the sale of the Jessica Simpson clothing line back to the pop singer who founded it.

Some experts said the stock sales didn’t look good — especially given the five-month prison stint she did in 2004 and 2005 for lying about her sales of ImClone shares. A lawyer for Stewart responded last week that she had “no advance knowledge” of news coming out about Sequential, noting that she had left the board more than two months earlier.

Then on Friday, one day after The Post reported on the situation, Stewart sold another 10,000 shares — this time at more than $22 a piece. And on Tuesday, she sold yet another 10,000-share bloc at the same lofty price, according to a Wednesday filing. In all, Stewart bagged about $440,000 on the two trades.

A line graph of Sequential Brands share prices
This chart shows Sequential Brands stock prices since early June. On Wednesday, July 8, the stock closed at $14.92.
NY Post

Sequential shares — which had tanked since Stewart’s first round of sales — appeared to have gotten a boost on Friday from the Reddit crowd, which saw the potential for a short squeeze in the stock. “$SQBG Short squeeze potential,” a trader wrote Friday on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. “26% short. Only 810k float. Easy!”

That’s despite Sequential’s continued financial woes. After Friday’s close, the company said in a regulatory filing that its ability to repay its debt has “casts substantial doubt with respect to the ability of the company to continue as a going concern.” On Wednesday, the stock closed at $14.92.

A spokeswoman for Stewart, who still holds 181,360 Sequential shares, according to the filing, didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart sold another 10,000 shares of Sequential on Friday — this time at more than $22 a piece. And on Tuesday, she sold yet another 10,000-share bloc at the same lofty price, according to a Wednesday filing.

Sources close to the company point out that she remains the only director known to have sold her shares and that the move could attract regulatory scrutiny, particularly since Sequential is expected to file for bankruptcy.

“She is poking the bear, which is the SEC,” said one source, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

An SEC spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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