The Biggest IPO of the Year Prompts Huge Insider Buy

As the year winds down, many investors are positioning themselves for 2026 and beyond. Some insiders made big insider purchases while others might be out for the holidays. The year’s largest initial public offering prompted a beneficial owner and others to buy into Medline Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLN). A public offering of Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: KOD) shares also tempted an insider, and a beneficial owner continues to build a big stake in W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE: WRB | WRB Price Prediction).

Though these were the most prominent insider purchases lately, there were some other notable ones as well. Let’s take a quick look at these transactions.

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 especially so during times of market uncertainty, and even when markets are near all-time highs.

The third-quarter earnings-reporting season is over, so few insiders are prohibited from buying or selling shares. Below are some of the most notable insider purchases that were reported recently, starting with the largest and most prominent.

Medline

• Buyer(s): 10% owner GIC Private and two directors
• Total shares: less than 17.8 million
• Price per share: $29.00
• Total cost: about $514.8 million

Shares of this Illinois-based medical-surgical products supplier surged after the biggest IPO of the year raised more than $6 billion. Each of the directors mentioned above purchased almost $75 million worth of the shares.

Medline said it intended to use the proceeds of the offering to pay down debt, purchase outstanding equity interests from certain of its pre-IPO owners, and the remainder for general corporate purposes.

The stock was last seen trading for more than $44 apiece, in a range thus far of $34.89 to $45.50. Mad Money’s Jim Cramer said he was very impressed with the IPO and recommended buying shares when the price pulls back.

Kodiak Sciences

• Buyer(s): 10% owner Baker Bros. Advisors
• Total shares: over 2.6 million
• Price per share: $23.00
• Total cost: about $60.0 million

This clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on retinal diseases raised $184 million in an upsized public offering of shares, and the buyer above raised its stake to more than 18.3 million shares. The CEO said Kodiak had strengthened its financial position as it executes on Phase 3 trials of three important clinical assets.

The stock hit a multiyear high of $31.18 after the offering and is up 174.2% in the past year. The share price has overrun the consensus price target, but analysts on average recommend buying the shares. Analyst sentiment has turned more bullish in the past month or so.

Note that this buyer also recently purchased shares of Kymera Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KYMR) and Entrada Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TRDA). The hedge fund specializes in long-term investments in biotechnology, life sciences, and healthcare.

W.R. Berkley

• Buyer(s): 10% owner Mitsui Sumitomo
• Total shares: 610,350
• Price per share: $68.82 to $70.64
• Total cost: over $42.5 million

Last spring, this buyer reached an agreement to acquire 15% of W.R. Berkley’s shares. Mitsui Sumitomo expects to complete its investment in this Connecticut-based insurance holding company during the first quarter of 2026. Its stake is up to more than 42.9 million shares, or over 12%.

The share price was last seen just above the top of the buyer’s purchase price range. Yet, the stock is 2.3% lower than a year ago because of recent volatility due to profit-taking. But note that shares are up 19.8% year over year, outperforming the S&P 500 in that time. Analysts are cautious, with only four out of 18 of them recommending buying shares. The $72.94 mean price target is 3.2% higher than the current price but less than the recent all-time high of $78.96.

Mitsui Sumitomo is a massive Japanese financial conglomerate. Note that it recently acquired an 18% stake in MassMutual’s Barings.

And Other Insider Buying

These were not the only notable insider purchases of the past week. Here is a quick look at some others.

Recently, some smaller insider buying was reported at American Bitcoin, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, AutoZone, Broadcom, Cinemark, Consolidated Edison, Cooper Companies, Immunome, Occidental Petroleum, Plug Power, SAIC, Salesforce, SentinelOne, Solaris Energy Infrastructure, and Weyerhaeuser, as well.

Share Offerings Prompt Huge Insider Buying in These Three Biotechs