Investing

Huge 21st Century Fox Buy Highlights Insider Buying: Cavium, Akamai Technologies, Activision Blizzard and More

Trey Thoelcke

Published: August 21, 2016 10:10 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:25 am

Even with the major U.S. markets hitting all-time highs, insider buyers were out in full force and gobbling up stock this past week. It is an incredibly bullish sign for the markets to see insiders adding shares at these levels, especially in the traditionally slow month of August.

We cover insider buying each 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 this past week.

Twenty-First Century Fox

Last week, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) had an insider adding a huge number of shares. A director at the media and entertainment giant bought a massive 3 million shares of the stock at prices that ranged from $25.97 to $26.13 per share. The total for the purchase came in at an astonishing $78 million.

Note that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway maintained its nearly 9 million share stake in the company during the second quarter. The stock closed trading on Friday at $25.15.

Genomic Health

An insider at Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) also purchased a block of shares this past week. A director at this cancer-focused health care company bought 100,000 shares of the stock at $27.02 per share. That cost him more than $2 million.

The company provides genomic-based clinical laboratory services that offer actionable genomic information to personalize cancer treatment decisions. Earlier in August, Genomic Health posted a narrowed quarterly net loss on a revenue beat. Its shares closed on Friday at $26.48, so perhaps the move came a bit too soon.

Cavium

A maker of integrated semiconductor processors for networking and communications, Cavium Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM) saw two top insiders make notable buys last week. The chief operating officer and the chief financial officer purchased 30,000 shares of the stock altogether, at between $51.86 and $51.94 apiece. The total for the purchases came to more than $1 million.

The company just concluded its $1.36 billion takeover of QLogic. The shares closed trading on Friday at $55.03, so the timing of the buys look good.

Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) saw the man at the top step up to the buy window this past week. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Leighton purchased a total of a bit more than 19,000 shares of the stock at $52.61 per share. That cost him nearly $1 million.

This cloud services provider also named a former Sprint CEO to its board of directors last week. The stock closed the day on Friday at $52.95 a share.

Activision Blizzard

While others, including high-ranking executives, were selling Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares last week, one director bucked the trend and purchased 20,000 shares of the stock at a share price of $39.79. The total for the purchase was almost $796,000.

This video game publisher posted solid quarterly results earlier in August. The stock closed trading on Friday at $39.98.

And Others

These companies also reported insider buying last week: Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP), CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF), Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK).

Insider buying at the top of the market is an extremely bullish sign. While we could have some consolidation over the next couple of months, it’s pretty clear that top executives at their respective companies are very positive and buying shares. That is news that is good for all investors.