O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY), GE and Baxter Witness Insider Buying; 2 Other Companies See Executives Unload Shares

Freshly-Appointed CEO of Baxter Acquired New Stake Earlier This Week

Jose E. Almeida, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) since January 2016, purchased a new stake of 11,691 shares on Monday at prices that ranged from $42.74 to $42.76. In the second half of 2015, the medical devices marker reached a settlement agreement with Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC, giving the activist shareholder a seat on its Board of Directors and a role in the search for a new CEO that picked Mr. Almeida.

The maker of dialysis machines and medical products has seen its market value gain 14% since the start of the year. Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), which spun-off its pharmaceutical operations into Baxalta Inc. (NYSE:BXLT) in the summer of 2015, needs to inject new dynamism into its slow-growing revenue base. The company’s total net sales for the first quarter were $2.38 billion, down from $2.40 billion reported for the same quarter of 2015. The decrease in Baxter’s top-line figure was mainly driven by foreign currency headwinds. Third Point LLC owned 53.85 million shares of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) at the end of the first quarter, which were worth $2.21 billion.

This Automotive Aftermarket Specialty Retailer Saw an Executive Buy Some Shares This Week

Tony E. Bartholomew, Senior Vice President of Professional Sales at O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY), purchased 1,700 shares on Monday at a price of $256 per share, lifting his overall holding to 15,981 shares. Mr. Bartholomew also holds an indirect ownership stake of 5,570 shares, which are held in the company’s 401k plan.

The shares of the U.S. automotive aftermarket specialty retailer have advanced by 2% since the beginning of 2016. O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY)’s sales for the first three months of 2016 were $2.10 billion, up by $194 million year-over-year. Meanwhile, comparable store sales for stores open at least 12 months rose 6.1% year-on-year, after increasing 7.2% in the same quarter of 2015. The increase in comparable store sales was mainly attributable to the increasing complexity and cost of replacement parts for the current pool of more technically advanced vehicles. There were 42 asset managers tracked by Insider Monkey with long positions in the company at the end of March. Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group reported owning 1.10 million shares of O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) in its latest 13F filing.