Hedge fund and insider trading are two types of sentiment that offer market-beating potential.
Insider buying activity has been shown to generate annual outperformance of about 7 percentage points, according to multiple empirical studies. With that being said, hedge fund data can be seen by following the link, and we’ll take you through a few of the most important insider buys of the past couple weeks below.
Repros Therapeutics
Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX) CFO Katherine Anderson bought 1,000 shares of the reproductive health company at a price of $23.77 each. The move came amid safety and efficacy results for Androxal, a drug design to increase testosterone in men, which in essence, preserves fertility. Since Anderson’s move, shares of Repros have risen by 5% and if analysts’ expectations regarding Androxal are correct, the stock has further upside. With clinical development costs representing a major portion of Repros’ expenditures, the company is tied to the drug’s fate, so it’s clear which way one exec is betting.
KB Home
KB Home (NYSE:KBH), meanwhile, is in the middle of three insider purchases. Thomas Silk, SVP of Marketing and Communications at the company, bought 5,000 shares at $6.04 each, CEO Jeffrey Mezger snatched up 150,000 shares, and CFO Jeff Kaminski bought 15,000 shares. KB Home’s stock price performed fairly well in the first half of 2013, but a revenue miss in its latest quarter has sent shares down by about 5% in the past month. The company’s trio of bullish insiders makes the U.S.’s fifth-largest homebuilder worth watching.
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) has also seen multiple insiders buying of late. Three vice presidents at the oil and gas E&P were awarded stock earlier this month, and Vicki Hollub was made the executive VP of Occidental’s U.S. operations. The company also reaffirmed that its quarterly dividend payment of $0.64 per share would be made in the fourth quarter, representing an annual yield of 2.6%.
Midstates Petroleum
Midstates Petroleum Company Inc (NYSE:MPO) is another energy company with one recent insider buy. Earlier this month, CEO John Crum increased his exposure to Midstates’ stock by 10,000 shares to 1.3 million total, worth an estimated $8.6 million. Crum’s move sent Midstates’ stock price up 9% in one day last week, and shares are up a whopping 25% since the transaction was disclosed.
A few other insiders to pay attention to
At Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST), Director Michael Ancius purchased a little over $300K worth of stock, while a Century Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNBKA) board member made a minor buy. Long-time Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL) executive Darrell Martin also bought over a hundred shares at $538.30 a pop.
Disclosure: none
