Tracking corporate insiders brings an interesting dimension to investing inspiration. Insiders, it’s hoped, have a far more accurate perception of a stock’s outlook than the market due to their personal involvement in the running of the company. If insiders are buying shares in a stock with their own money it can be a good indication of a compelling investment opportunity. Selling can indicate the reverse.
To find the most recent insider transactions, we looked at TipRanks’ Daily Insider Transactions tool which displays all the latest insider transactions from over 37,000 insiders. We filtered the results to only the best-performing officers, directors or >10% owners that have a five-star rating, and only informative transactions above $500,000. We also selected all sectors, but you can filter the results to whichever sector you choose.
Uninformative transactions indicate that an insider is buying/selling shares for reasons that do not necessarily indicate confidence in the company, such as exercising share options. In contrast, informative transactions are deliberately made by insiders, often because they feel the stock is undervalued.
These filters pulled up the following results:
Buy- Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS)
Director Larry Stone bought over $1 million worth of shares in Fortune 500 retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods. Shares plunged after disappointing Q1 results, but Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jim Duffy says the stock’s fall was “too severe” given that comp growth rose to 5% in April. DKS has a moderate buy analyst consensus rating with 12 buy and 8 hold ratings on the stock in the last three months. Due to the price decline, the average analyst 12-month price target of $56 is now a 36% upside from the current share price.
Buy- Portola Pharma (PTLA)
Jeffrey W Bird, a director, has just bought $3.8 million of shares in Portola Pharma, a biopharma focused on treating blood disorders and thrombosis. Oppenheimer’s Jay Olson published a buy rating on the stock with a $46 price target last month (23% upside). Olson says he is encouraged by updates on anticoagulant betrixaban and remains optimistic on PTLA’s outlook. The stock has a strong buy analyst consensus rating on TipRanks.
