Typically, ahead of a holiday weekend things start to slow down, and this year looks to be no exception. While the market posted some very solid gains last week, many investors remained focused on the upcoming summer events, which could heighten volatility.

One thing is for sure, the insiders at major companies continue to buy shares even as the S&P 500 creeps ever closer to last year’s all-time highs.

We cover insider buying each and every week at 24/7 Wall St., and we like to remind 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 an overall positive indicator. Here are some of the companies that reported notable insider buying last week.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) had a big time buyer on the desk once again this past week, and just like all of this year so far, the share count is huge. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was busy buying 824,630 shares of the company at prices between $77.47 and $77.92 a share. The total for the trade came to a stunning $64 million.

Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company. The stock closed the day on Friday at $80.61, so it looks like a well-timed buy. Buffett’s full stock holdings continue to show that Phillips 66 is a growing position for the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) shows up on our screens again. The CEO of the blue chip industrial, Jeffrey Immelt, bought a total of 67,600 shares of the stock at $29.59 apiece. The total for the purchase was an even $2 million.

Shares of General Electric closed trading on Friday at $30.12.

24/7 Wall St. recently featured why GE is now being so closely followed over other conglomerates, and that interest may persist as long as the shares remain this far off their highs.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) also had the man at the top purchasing shares this past week. CEO Jose Almeida bought a total of 11,691 shares of the stock at prices between $42.74 and $42.76. The total for the purchase came in right at $500,000.

Baxter International provides a portfolio of renal and hospital products. Its Renal segment provides products and services to treat end-stage renal disease, irreversible kidney failure, and acute kidney therapies. The shares closed the week on Friday at $43.31.

One issue which recently stood out is that short sellers seem to have declared war on Baxter, despite that it was deemed cheap heading into a breakup.

TICC Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: TICC) had a trio of executives buying stock last week. The CEO, president and a director at the company picked up a total of 179,100 shares at prices that ranged from $5.39 to $5.67. The total for the buy was posted at $1 million.

This business development company operates as a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that invests in both public and private companies. The shares closed Friday at $5.60.

Many personal share purchases had been seen from TICC Capital’s management throughout May. Perhaps they did not agree with the downgraded to Underweight from Barclays early in May, as that is the equivalent of a Sell rating at other firms. Its shares were last seen up almost 10% from that May downgrade by Barclays.

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Crestwood Equity Partners L.P. (NYSE: CEQP) is another company that makes a return to our screens. A director and 10% owner of the company, Crestwood Holdings, bought a total of 43,514 shares at prices that ranged from $18.29 to $18.69. The total for the buy was posted at $800,000. They bought an additional 81,086 shares of the stock earlier last week at prices between $17.30 and $18.38, for a total buy of $1.5 million.

Crestwood Equity Partners provides infrastructure solutions to liquids-rich natural gas and crude oil shale plays in the United States. The shares closed Friday at $21.59.

Crestwood’s management team had bullish things to say with its earnings report at the start of May. Robert Phillips, Chairman, President and CEO of Crestwood’s general partner, said at that time:

In the recent quarter, we continued to execute on our strategic plan by delivering the new Barnett contract with BlueStone, the end of the Quicksilver bankruptcy, the partnership with Con Edison and a reduction of quarterly distributions which will result in substantially lower debt and significantly improved leverage ratio and distribution coverage. We believe that by year-end 2016, Crestwood’s credit and coverage metrics will be one of the leaders in our peer group, will drive improved performance in our units and will largely complete the competitive repositioning strategy we initiated last year with the cost reduction program, organizational restructuring and simplification merger.

First quarter 2016 results were largely in-line with our forecast as better than expected performance in our gathering and processing segment and continued operating cost reductions offset the impacts to our business from lower NGL and natural gas demand as a result of historically warm temperatures during the first quarter 2016. In the second quarter, Crestwood will work closely with Con Edison to develop plans for Stagecoach Gas Services and to complete our strategic partnership as soon as possible. We remain bullish about opportunities to grow our storage and transportation platform in the Northeast, and we are excited about working with a partner who shares our desire to grow these assets safely and responsibly.

These companies also reported insider buying this last week:

• Ambac Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBC),
• Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT),
• OvaScience Inc. (NASDAQ: OVAS),
• Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI),
• and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT).

While the upcoming holiday-shortened week looks to be a little slower as well, the insiders should continue to add shares. One thing is for sure, we’re keeping a close eye on companies that have had some issues and the executives are buying stock.

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