Insider Buying This Week Dominated by Pharma and Yield Chasers

We highlight insider buying each week at 24/7 Wall St. to give our readers up-to-date information on the top stocks insiders are being buying and the kind of dollar commitment they are making. Here are this week’s top insider purchases:

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) is a high-yield mortgage REIT that has pulled back significantly over the last two years. Investors will be encouraged to know that the chief legal officer of the company stepped forward and bought 122,784 shares at $11.46 per share. That was a total trade of $1.4 million. Annaly shares were trading Friday at $11.70. Investors are paid a large 10.3% distribution from the company.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) had a very large individual purchase this week when a company director bought 30,000 shares of the stock at $34.65 for a total of $1 million. This may be significant for shareholders considering how much this stock has been lagging in this last year. There is also anticipation that the iPhone 6 debut this fall could be a huge plus for the carrier. Shares were trading Friday at $34.74.

Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE: MNK) is a top European pharmaceutical stock that saw absolutely gigantic insider purchasing this past week. A 10% owner and two of the company’s directors purchased a total of 702,600 shares at prices ranging from $69.20 to $70.20. The total cost for the purchase was a staggering $49.3 million. Hedge fund manager and 10% owner John Paulson also bought 467,900 shares at price ranging from $68 to $69.70, for a total purchase of $32.2 million. Shares of the company were trading Friday at $73.24, up almost 3.5%.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) shows up once again with another huge purchase of the waste management company. Cascade Investments, which is the private investment arm for Microsoft founder Bill Gates, purchased another 794,000 shares at $38.05 for a total purchase of $30.3 million. Later in the week, Cascade purchased two additional lots of 81,000 shares at $38.22 (worth $3.1 million), and 101,595 shares at $38.50 (worth $3.9 million). Republic shares were recently trading hands at $39.04. The stock is up over 20% since a February low.

Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) had one of the company’s directors take a very large chunk of stock home this week. The director bought 191,000 shares at $41.43 for a grand total of $7.9 million. Avnet distributes electronic components, enterprise computer and storage products, IT solutions and services, and embedded subsystems in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and in the Asia/Pacific region. Shares were changing hands Friday at $42.90.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: INO) saw some aggressive insider activity with the CEO and the COO buying a combined total of 252,550 shares at prices ranging from $8.70 to $9.06. The tab for the two executives came to $2.3 million. Inovio is working on immunotherapy treatments and recently announced that its phase 2 trial of VGX-3100, a therapy designed to fight precancerous cervical lesions, succeeded in meeting its primary endpoints. The stock was trading at $9.45 late Friday.

Stonegate Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: SGM) saw one of the company’s directors make a big individual purchase. The director bought 150,181 shares at prices ranging from $13.80 to $13.90 for a total of $2.1 million. Stonegate is an integrated mortgage company, focusing on originating, acquiring, selling, financing, and servicing residential mortgage loans in the United States. The stock was trading at $14.21 on Friday.

Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM) has had a solid year, and the executive chairman thinks things will continue to excel. He bought 50,000 shares at $22.22 for a total purchase of $1.1 million. Kimco is a REIT that specializes in neighborhood and community shopping centers and malls. The stock was trading Friday at $23.05.

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With the market taking a breather earlier this month, it appears as though insiders thought it was a good idea to add to their positions,or initiate new ones. The fact that it appears that some were “buying the dip” may be very positive for other shareholders going forward as these companies appear to be on pretty solid ground.