Tracking insider purchases can provide investors with great ideas. Over the past week, a few companies saw their insiders acquire big chunks of stock. Lets take a look at some of the most interesting transactions that took place in the last few days.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a $1.37 billion market cap bookseller that saw one of its Board Directors, Scott Cowen, acquire 4,5000 shares of Common Stock for $22.26 per share, spending more than $100,000. These are Mr. Cowen’s first shares in Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS).
In addition to this Director, several hedge funds have either started new stakes or increased their bets on Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) over the last reported quarter. David Abrams’ Abrams Capital Management started a position with 2.11 million shares, worth more than $44 million, over Q1. Later, on mid-May, the fund increased its wage to 2.635 million shares. This stake accounts for approximately 3.5% of its total equity portfolio’s value. Another newcomer at Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners, which last declared having acquired 1.12 million shares of the company.
Second in this list is State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC), a $969 million market cap property and casualty insurance holding company, which is engaged in writing both personal and business lines of insurance. On July 1st, State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co, Large Shareholder (more than 10%), acquired 14,180 shares of Common Stock –without par value, for a price of $23.079 per share. After having spent over $327,000 in stock, State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co owns more than 25.47 million shares of State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC). As reported last month, the insider has been consistently upping its bets on the company lately.
In addition, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates last declared having increased its stake in State Auto Financial Corp (NASDAQ:STFC) by 4%, and now owns 535,064 shares.
Finally, there’s Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd (NYSE:BCRH), a $172 million market cap reinsurance holding company. Over the past month, one Large Shareholder, Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd, has been acquiring big portions of the company’s Common Shares. Between June 13 and July 2nd, Montpelier purchased 115,647 shares of Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd (NYSE:BCRH). The latest transaction took place on July 2nd, when the insider spent more $239,000 in 12,401 shares of the company. Following these acquisitions, Montpelier owns 2.615 million Common Units, which account for approximately 30% of its class (outstanding Common Units).
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned
