After a week like this past one, most investors are glad to see the market closed for a couple of days so the dust can settle. Despite the precipitous drop in the stock markets, insiders continued to purchase the stock of the companies they work for or have 10% stakes in. With a combination of headline risk and the end of the quarter speeding up institutional selling to capture profits, this week may have been a needed pullback pause.

We cover insider buying each week at 24/7 Wall Street, and we are paying close attention to sectors that have been the most distressed, like energy. Insider buying in that sector has started to pick up, and that is a positive sign for investors.

Here are the companies that reported insider buying this past week:

Patriot National Inc. (NYSE: PN) had an employee right at the top make two large purchases last week. CEO Steven Mariano bought two big blocks of stock. One was 121,000 shares at prices that ranged from $13.75 to $13.96 for a total of $1.67 million. The second block was 110,093 shares at $12.71 to $13.54, for a total of $1.4 million. Patriot National provides various outsourcing solutions within the workers’ compensation marketplace for insurance companies, employers, local governments and reinsurance captives. Shares traded as high as $14.00 on Friday, so very well-timed buys.

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Hawaiian Telcom Holdco Inc. (NASDAQ: HCOM) had a 10% owner of the stock also make two purchases this past week. Twin Haven Capital Partners bought one block of 33,000 shares that was reported Monday at $26.00 for a total of $858,000. A second block hit the tape later in the week of 37,000 shares at prices that ranged from$26.11 to $26.15 for a total buy of $962,000. The stock closed trading Friday at $26.32.

Alico Inc. (NASDAQ: ALCO) also had a 10% owner buy more stock last week. Delta Offshore Master ll bought 31,000 shares at prices that ranged from $50.09 to $51.56. The total for the buy came to $1.6 million. The company operates as an agribusiness and land management company in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Citrus Groves, Improved Farmland, Ranch and Conservation, Agricultural Supply Chain Management and Support, and Other Operations. The stock ended trading Friday at $51.04.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) investors will be happy to know that a director at the trendy clothier bought stock this past week. That director purchased 10,000 shares of the stock at $22.38 apiece. The total for the buy came to $224,000. The stock ended the week at $21.72 a share.

Vaalco Energy Inc. (NYSE: EGY) had four executives buying shares of the company. The CEO, two directors and a vice president at the company bought a combined 52,620 shares of the stock at $3.10 to $3.29 a share. Vaalco is an independent energy company that acquires, explores for, develops and produces crude oil and natural gas in the United States. The company owns producing properties and conducts exploration activities as an operator of consortiums internationally in Gabon and Angola. The stock closed trading Friday at $3.22.

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These companies also reported insider buying last week: Civeo Corp. (NYSE: CVEO), LGI Homes Inc. (NASDAQ: LGIH), Medgenics Inc. (NYSE: MDGN), Moduslink Global Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNK) and PHI Inc. (NASDAQ: PHII).

It will be interesting to see if the recent market volatility and drop brings out more insiders to buy stock in the weeks to come.

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