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Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors when markets face uncertainty.
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Insider purchases at a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), two health care companies and an energy company were reported last week.
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Some insiders at conglomerates added to their stakes as well, as the year concluded.
Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10% owners really only buy shares of a company for one reason — they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly when there is uncertainty in the markets, as there has been due to the pandemic resurgence and political issues.
Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases that were reported in the past week, as the year concluded and investors reset for the new year.
Special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK) saw a pair of 10% owners buy in to the merger that resulted in Danimer Scientific (NYSE: DNMR). The 9.81 million shares they acquired altogether, at $10 per share, added up to $98.1 million. Shares of this bioplastics company ended the past week’s trading at $23.51 apiece, which was more than twice the above purchase price.
Three directors ended the year by adding 628,000 Odonate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: ODT) shares altogether to their stakes. They paid $16.75 to $17.72 each, which totaled more than $12.03 million. Note that CEO Kevin Tang stepped up to the buy window in the prior week, picking up over $4.18 million worth of shares of this San Diego-based company. The stock closed most recently at $19.20 a share.
Iqvia Holdings Inc (NYSE: IQV) recently saw a director indirectly acquire via trust more than $63,400 shares of this life sciences company. Prices averaged $176.95 per share, and the transactions totaled more than $11.22 million and raised the stake to over 137,400 shares. The stock closed trading most recently at $179.19, so this purchase appears to be fortunately timed. The share price is up more than 25% in the past six months.
A 10% owner indirectly purchased more than 73,300 Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSE: CQP) shares at $32.97 to $34.35 apiece late last week. The total for those purchases added up to more than $2.49 million. Shares of this midstream oil and gas company ended the week’s trading at $35.25, which is above the purchase price range above but less than 4% higher than six months ago.
New York-based conglomerate Steel Partners Holdings LP (NYSE: SPLP) saw Executive Chair Warren Lichtenstein add 114,700 more shares to his stake last week. Other insiders also bought around 67,000 shares altogether. At $9.09 to $9.21, all these transactions totaled more than $1.65 million. The stock popped almost 25% midweek but fell short of recapturing the 52-week high of $11.99. The shares closed most recently at $10.75 apiece.
A director at Fidelity National Financial Inc (NYSE: FNF) has purchased 29,100 shares of this Jacksonville, Florida-based title insurance company. At prices ranging from $38.38 to $38.47 per share, that cost the director almost $1.12 million. Note that three executives sold a combined 116,365 shares in December as well. The stock was last seen trading at $39.09 a share, after rising fractionally in the holiday-shortened week.
And an Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ: IEP) director returned to acquire more than 19,200 more shares of this Florida-based conglomerate. The purchase price ranged from $50.82 to $51.24 per share, which cost that director more than $983,600. That director also bought more than 16,700 shares in early December. The stock slipped fractionally last week and as last seen trading at $50.67 a share.
See also: Insider Buys DPW’s Stock
Note that there also was some smaller amount of insider buying at Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR), Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) and PBF Energy Inc (NYSE: PBF) reported before year’s end.
At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.
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