One thing you have to know is this - you don't have to be...

One thing you have to know is this - you don't have to be special in order to trade a small lot of shares.
Just open any CFD accounts, you can do it anytime you want, and depending on which provider you are with, will only ever pay a % of the total trade, not per trade lot.

Most people (not necessarily big firm) trade a small lot to avoid detection or pushing the market up/down too much.

Small lot of shares by itself doesn't really indicate SP manipulation; I would be more worried if you see a big capper, or you see those small lot in multiple tranches in quick succession (this indicates they are HFT).