Insider Buying Still Strong as Market Volatility Spikes

We cover insider buying every week at 24/7 Wall St., and despite the markets clinging to levels not all that far all-time highs, insider buying has remained reasonably consistent year to date. We continue to monitor sectors like energy, looking for trends and buyers taking advantage of price irregularities.

Here are companies that reported notable insider buying this past week.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) had a director of the company make some huge buys of the stock. Wayne Hughes bought 249,083 shares on Tuesday at prices from $16.63 to $16.77, for a total of $4.2 million. He then followed that up on Thursday with a buy of 750,917 shares at between $16.80 to $16.87 apiece, for a total of $12.7 million. American Homes 4 Rent is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing and operating single-family home rental properties in the United States. The stock closed trading Friday at $16.48.

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Jakks Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) had a 10% owner buy stock this past week. Oasis Management purchased a block of 1,083,984 shares at prices that ranged from $6.68 to $7.47 per shares, to total of $7.5 million. The company designs, develops, produces and markets consumer products in the United States and internationally. Shares were trading on Friday’s close at $8.o7, so a well-timed buy.

Heron Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HRTX) is another company with a 10% owner adding to current holdings. Tang Capital Partners bought 150,000 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $19.30 to $23.84, a very significant spread. The total for the purchase came to $3.1 million. Heron Therapeutics is a biotechnology company using its proprietary technology and innovative efforts to develop products to address unmet medical needs. Its proprietary Biochronomer drug delivery technology is designed to improve the therapeutic profile of injectable pharmaceuticals. The buy was also well timed as ended the week at $26.20.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) had a director of the company buy a 15,000-share block of the stock at $150.16 per share. That cost the director $2.3 million. The company supplies aggregates products and heavy building materials for the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It operates through Mid-America Group, Southeast Group, West Group, Cement and Magnesia Specialties segments. Shares ended trading on Friday at $148.10.

Orthofix International N.V. (NASDAQ: OFIX) had a director from the company buy a block of 50,000 shares last week at a price of $32.65 apiece. The total for the purchase came to $1.6 million. Orthofix is a medical device company that provides reconstructive and regenerative orthopedic and spine solutions to physicians. It operates through four segments: BioStim, Biologics, Extremity Fixation and Spine Fixation. The stock closed trading on Friday at $33.89, so a well-timed buy.

Halcon Resources Inc. (NYSE: HK) saw the CEO of the company make a solid buy last week. Floyd Wilson scooped up a million shares of the stock at prices around $1.03. The total for the buy came to $1.1 million. This independent energy company is engaged in the acquisition, production, exploration and development of onshore oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The timing looks good, as shares were trading on Friday’s close at $1.19.

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These companies also reported insider buying this week: ABIOMED Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD), Calamos Asset Management Inc. (NASDAQ: CLMS), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), UCP Inc. (NYSE: UCP) and Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI).

With the dog days of summer almost upon us, we may see insider activity start to slow as vacation time draws near. If the markets get more volatile and sell off big, everything could change.