I don't believe shares purchased by Putnam with his options would be on the open market, they would be purchased from the company. These are not market trades and would be reflected in the market price only to the extent that knowledge about the trade would give the market some insight into the value of the stock. If he exercised the option, we would conclude that he thought they would be worth more at some time in the future. Given his knowledge of the company, it would be a positive sign about the PPS.

This maybe true but if he got his departure check then he could use that money to buy on the open market... It really doesn't matter who the buy is as long as it keeps up and the price goes up