Former President and COO of Eagle-based company pleads guilty to insider trading

EAGLE, Idaho — The former COO and President of PetIQ, a company based in Eagle, has pleaded guilty to insider trading.

In 2024, 48-year-old Michael Smith of Eagle obtained "material nonpublic information" regarding the acquisition of PetIQ by the Bansk Group, a private equity firm based in New York City.

On July 26, 2024, Smith purchased PetIQ stock using a brokerage account belonging to a close friend. He did so with knowledge of the impending acquisition and despite being prohibited from trading PetIQ stock based on material nonpublic information.

News of the PetIQ acquisition by the Bansk Group became public on August 7, 2024, which pushed the stock price up by 50%.

The following day, Smith and his friend sold the PetIQ stock for a profit of $145,754.69.

Michael Smith later pleaded