Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but there is really only one reason insiders buy shares of a company — they believe the stock price will move higher and they want to profit from it. Pullbacks and sell-offs provide a perfect opportunity for investors who have faith in a company to snap up shares. Here are some stocks that have seen insider buying recently. (more…)

Much to the chagrin of couch potatoes everywhere, there are plenty of reasons to be sour about Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the largest cable provider in the United States.  In addition to TV, the company is also a prominent supplier of Internet and telephone services to media-hungry consumers.   In recent months, knowledgeable shareholders of CMCSA – corporate insiders and hedge funds – have been bearish on the stock, even though it has consistently yielded a positive return since the most recent recession.  In fact, over the last three years, shares of Comcast have almost tripled in value and currently rest around $30 a share.  Though this stock has been booming, there are fundamental reasons why it is not unreasonable to expect that CMCSA shares have hit their peak. (more…)

One of the largest American game entertainment companies, Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) has had its fate tied to the declining videogame industry, where users are trading in their controllers for simpler tech products like tablets and smartphones.  In EA’s case, much of the blame falls on its overreliance on rehashing sequels to franchises like “Madden” and “Tiger Woods PGA Tour,” which is a result of the company’s uninspiring business model.  While it is no doubt that these gloomy strategic decisions will continue to hurt EA’s stock price, there are darker clouds on the horizon.  The stock has fallen 21 percent since the beginning of the year and insider and fundamental analysis will have investors taking cover sooner rather than later. (more…)

Much like the roller coasters that sweep the skylines of its parks, Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:SIX) has had its share of ups and downs over the last few years.  Officially the world’s biggest amusement park corporation in terms of physical size, Six Flags has had trouble living up to this billing in other facets of its business.  As of last fall, insiders had been buying the stock at $30-$32 a share, though one prominent shareholder has recently begun to trim his holdings of SIX.  Although the company has now reached a fortunate market valuation of nearly $47 a share, earnings difficulties and overvaluation indicators have investors feeling more like Clark Griswold than Clark Kent. (more…)

One of the most sloth-like sectors in the American economy, the housing market has been depressed in every sense of the word.  Home prices, new home construction, and existing home sales are seeing improvement, though increased rates of mortgage default and foreclosure still plague all companies that have an integral involvement in the industry.  Perhaps the most apparent firms being affected are homebuilders like D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI). Horton is the largest company of its kind in the United States, and its focus is on building single-family homes gave birth to its slogan: “America’s Builder.”  There are significant reasons, however, that investors should stay away from DHI, and one of the most important can be seen by looking at the behavior of insiders within the company. (more…)

Securities regulators have charged two Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) advisors and three unnamed persons with insider trading.

Apparently, the men made $1.8 million in illicit profits based on confidential merger information they learned at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

According to Fox Business , the Securities and Exchange Commission said that one of the advisors, Timothy McGee, was told about a pending merger of insurer Philadelphia Consolidated Holding and Tokio Marine Holdings at an AA meeting. (more…)

Insider transactions are usually worth looking at. Though insider purchases or sells do not always send clear “buy” or “sell” signals, it is always a good starting point to choose which stocks to be analyzed. In this article, we are going to take a closer look at a few insider purchases reported to SEC during the last week. We selected a few notable insider purchases with large dollar amounts purchased and large number of shares purchased. We also focused on stocks with relatively large market caps (above $1.5 billion) because these have enough liquidity to absorb sudden surges in demand. (more…)

Most investors usually associate insider trading with illegal transactions. In fact, insider trading can be either legal or illegal. Illegal insider trading usually refers to those insiders who trade directly on material non-public information. On the other hand, it is legal for corporate insiders, including officers, directors, and large shareholders of the company, to purchase or sell stocks of their own companies once the material information has been made public. When insiders trade on the stocks of their companies, they have to report their trades to SEC. We think insiders have an edge over ordinary investors. Even though they do not trade illegally, they understand their companies much better than other investors. In this article, we are going to take a closer look at a few stocks that insiders are buying recently. (more…)

Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but there is really only one reason insiders buy shares of a company — they believe the stock price will move higher and they want to profit from it. Pullbacks and sell-offs provide a perfect opportunity for investors who have faith in a company to snap up shares. Here are some stocks that have seen insider buying recently. (more…)

Insider purchases usually signal that the stock is undervalued. As a result, stock prices often increase after insiders disclose their transactions to the SEC. Academic studies have shown that insider purchases manage to beat the market over the next 12-month period. So if you couldn’t act immediately after a purchase is announced, it still isn’t too late to buy the stock. In this article, we are going to discuss in detail a few large-cap stocks with significant insider purchases recently. (more…)

Inside information pays. Corporate insiders usually have access to material non-public information about their companies. They sometimes trade illegally on such information and make great profits. Some of them were investigated, caught and sent to jail, but there are still many other insiders trading in the grey area and they never get caught. In fact, insiders do not have to act directly on material non-public information to benefit from it. They can delay their purchases if they know negative news is about to be released. On the other hand, ordinary investors who do not have access to inside information will still buy the stock and lose money. As you might have guessed imitating insider purchases is potentially a very profitable strategy. Academic studies have also shown that insider purchases manage to beat the market on the average. (more…)