Insiders Snap Up $54M in Biotech and Offshore Driller Stocks

By Trey Thoelcke Published Oct 7, 8:45AM EDT

Quick Read

In the past week or so, some public offerings of stock prompted huge insider buying.
However, these were not the only notable insider purchases recently.

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Insiders Snap Up $54M in Biotech and Offshore Driller Stocks — © monsitj / iStock via Getty Images

In the past week or so, some public offerings of stock prompted big insider buying. Two were from biopharmaceutical companies riding high on strong trial results. Furthermore, an offshore driller was looking to pay down some debt. However, these were not the only notable purchases in that time.

Let’s take a quick look at these notable transactions in the past couple of weeks.

Is Insider Buying Important?

What does insider buying tell us?

A well-known adage reminds us that corporate insiders and 10% owners really only buy shares of a company because they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. Thus, insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors. This is all the more so during times of uncertainty in the markets, and even when markets are near all-time highs.

With the second-quarter earnings-reporting season over, insiders are largely free to buy or sell shares until the next season begins. Below are some of the most notable insider purchases that were reported recently, starting with the largest and most prominent.

PepGen

Buyer(s): 10% owner R.A. Capital Management
Total shares: almost 9.4 million
Price per share: $3.20
Total cost: $30.0 million

This biotech-focused investment firm bought into a public offering of PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ: PEPG) shares as the Boston-based company released stellar trial results. The offering raised $115 million, with which PepGen intends to fund ongoing research and clinical development efforts.

The stock is more than 300% higher than a month ago and was last seen trading well above the offering price. However, the share price is still down about 45% year over year. But analysts on average see plenty of room to run, as their mean price target is up at $8.17 and their consensus recommendation is to buy shares.

Note that this owner also recently bought about $30 million worth of Mineralys Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MLYS).

Transocean

Buyer(s): a director
Total shares: 4.0 million
Price per share: $3.05
Total cost: $12.2 million

This transaction was also part of a public offering of stock, in this case to help Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG | RIG Price Prediction) pay down debt. Shares retreated after the announcement but now are up more than 24% from 90 days ago. However, a year ago, the stock was trading around $4.50 a share.

The Swiss offshore driller has a mean price target of $3.88, signaling 20.1% upside in the next 12 months. Yet, of 13 analysts who cover the stock, only four recommend buying shares, including Barclays, which maintained its Overweight rating back in August.

Note that the buyer is also a beneficial owner and has a stake of almost 95.1 million shares.

MBX Biosciences

Buyer(s): a director
Total shares: almost 666,700
Price per share: $18.00
Total cost: nearly $12.0 million

This clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company also had a public offering of shares. MBX Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: MBX) was looking to raise around $200 million, after shares surged following positive trial results for its thyroid disease treatment.

The stock is 44.7% higher than a month ago but still down 9.5% since the beginning of the year. Shares were last seen trading for less than the offering price. But analysts see lots of room to run, because their mean price target is all the way up at $60.29. All seven analysts who cover the stock recommend buying shares.

Note that this buyer also picked up some shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQT) this summer.

And Other Insider Buying

These were not the only notable insider purchases of the past week or so. Here’s a quick look at some others.

Stock	Buyer	Shares	Price	Cost
Prospect Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: PSEC)	CEO and COO	over 2.0 M	$2.61 to $2.73	over $5.4 M
Pattern Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PTRN)	10% owner	almost 302,300	$12.00 to $13.49	over $3.8 M
Opendoor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN)	a director	almost 300,800	$6.65	$2.0 M

Recently, some smaller insider buying was reported at Agree Realty, AIG, Atlassian, Carmax, CME, Cooper Companies, Simon Property Group, WK Kellogg, and Worthington Enterprises as well.

Insiders Buy Over $98 Million in Biotech and Cybersecurity Shares in IPOs

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.