In a week that saw all the market gains for the year wiped out, only to roar back on Friday, one thing seems clear. The windows that we wrote about for insiders to buy and sell stock sure look like they came flying open this week, as insiders at top companies, large and small, dipped into their wallets and started buying stock big time.

We cover insider buying every week at 24/7 Wall St., and after a month of first-quarter earnings reports effectively slowing the insider action to a crawl, the buyers came back with a vengeance this week. Clearly the market trading lower many have been an impetus for some.

Here are the companies reporting notable insider buying this week:

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) saw a 10% owner step up to the plate with a huge buy order last week. The Ontario Teachers Pension plan bought a staggering 3.12 million shares of the real estate giant at prices that ranged from $80.86 to $82.46. The total for the buy came to a stunning $254.29 million. The shares ended trading on Friday at $82.07.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) had a very bullish director at the biotech company purchasing stock this week. That director bought 1.03 million shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $34.69 to $37.15. The total came to a whopping $36.72 million. Shares closed trading Friday at $41.13, so a trade very well placed.

ALSO READ: Why These 4 Biotech Stocks Could Be the Next Buyout Targets

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) had a 10% owner of the company make two separate sizable purchases of stock this week. Fairholme Capital Management bought one block of 171,000 shares of the retailer at prices from $34.81 to $40.36, for a total of $6.72 million. An additional block of 130,000 shares at prices that ranged from $41.17 to $41.51 cost the buyer another $5.37 million. Shares were trading at $42.13 at Friday’s closing bell, so yet another well-timed buy.

Alliqua BioMedical Inc. (NASDAQ: ALQA) had a very well-known 10% owner purchasing the company’s stock. Biotech giant Celgene bought a huge 659,340 shares of the stock at $4.55 apiece. The total of the buy came to $3 million. Alliqua BioMedical shares ended the week at $4.51.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) had two directors at the blue chip industrial buying shares this week. They bought a combined 44,000 shares at prices that ranged from $27.22 to $27.26. The total for the purchase came to $1.19 million. We have seen GE executives in the past few months buying stock. This is a positive for shareholders who have seen the company trade sideways for some time. GE shares closed trading Friday at $27.36.

These additional companies also reported insider buying this past week: Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD), Famous Dave’s Of America, Inc. (NASDAQ: DAVE), Griffon Corp. (NYSE: GFF), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI).

The fact that so many buyers showed up confirms our thoughts that many insiders were blacked out from buying. It will prove interesting to see how the rest of the month goes.

ALSO READ: Insider Selling in Financials Jumps as Market Volatility Rules the Week

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