Tech and Biotech See Big-Time Insider Buying This Week – Apple, Biogen, Qualcomm and More

We cover insider buying every week at 24/7 Wall St., and we like to remind our readers that while insider buying is usually a very positive sign, it is not in of itself a reason to run out and buy a stock. Sometimes insiders and 10% owners have stock purchase plans set up at intervals to add to their holdings. That aside, it still remains a very positive overall indicator.

Here are the companies that reported impressive insider buying this week.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had a director at the tech giant buying stock this week, and Jefferies gave a big value call here as well. The director purchased 3800 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $122.90 to $124.15. the total for the buy came to $469,000. With the iPhone 6s expected in the last half of the year, and Best Buy starting to sell the Apple Watch the rest of 2015 could be very solid for the company. Shares were trading Friday at $121.37.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) has been on a roll for years and the biotech giant was hit hard when they reported disappointing earnings and slowing sales of some of the company’s top selling drugs. A director at the company took advantage of the sell-off in the shares and bought a block of 10,000 shares at $304.88. The total for the purchase came to a whopping $3 million. The stock was trading on Friday at $319.48, so a well-timed buy.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a top tech stock that has had a very rough year and C suite executives and a director at the company were buying stock this past week. The CEO and the CFO of the company bought a combined 23,915 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $62,34 to $63,31. The total for their purchases came to $1.5 million. The director at the company also bought 5650 shares at $61.63 for a total purchase of $348,000. Qualcomm shares were trading on Friday at $64.66 so again a well-timed buy.

Horsehead Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: ZINC) hit our screens for the second time in a month as a 10% holder of the stock continues to add shares. Dalal Street bought an additional 470,653 shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $7.82 to $8.13. The total for the buy came to $3.8 million. The company produces and sells zinc and nickel-based products primarily in the United States and Canada. The stock was trading on Friday at $8.26.

Allegheny Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ATI) had a director of the company buy 20,000 shares of the stock this week at $21.38. The total for the purchase came to $428,000. The company is based in Pittsburgh and produces and sells specialty materials and components worldwide. Allegheny Technologies operates through two segments, High Performance Materials and Components; and Flat-Rolled Products. The stock was trading on Friday at $21.54.

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These companies also reported insider buying this week. United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI), Unifi Inc. (NYSE: UFI), Equifax, Inc. (NYSE: EFX), Cenveo Inc. (NYSE: CVO) and Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI).

Insiders buying beaten down shares of sector leaders is always a bullish sign, especially when the purchase is adjacent to the time that the stock got hit hard. We should start to see more activity from insiders as earnings season draws to an end and windows for transactions start to open again.