13 Stocks Insiders are Buying Now

Published on November 24, 2023 at 10:26 am by Fahad Saleem in Hedge Funds, News

In this article, we will take a look at the 13 stocks insiders are buying now. To see more such companies, go directly to 5 Stocks Insiders are Buying Now.

With the end of 2023 now in sight, many can say with confidence that the much-dreaded recession everyone was talking about will not realize this year. But can this optimism last until the next year? Goldman Sachs in its 2024 outlook report said that it expects the US economy to grow at a modest pace next year but it does not see a recession hitting the economy. Goldman Sachs expects that the S&P 500 index will end 2024 at 4700, which would represent a 12-month gain of 5%

Goldman Sachs also said that at the end of 2024 investors will look back and realize that “all they had to do” was to stay invested (isn’t that the case at the end of every year?). Goldman Sachs also said that the year 2023 has been “defined” by the rise of mega-cap tech stocks, now famously known as the Magnificent Seven. The firm believes the risk reward of these stocks could lose attraction in 2024 because of elevated expectations. Goldman Sachs also looked back at its predictions for 2023 and highlighted where it was right and wrong.

We correctly predicted the aggregate S&P 500 index would show no profit growth. We originally forecast $224 of EPS and 10½ months into the year the market is on track to deliver earnings in line with that number. The equal-weighted S&P 500 index has also posted flat EPS. However, we were wrong because, while the equal-weight index has posted virtually no appreciation YTD, the aggregate index has posted a 19% total return led by stellar returns of a select few mega-cap stocks. The combination of strong realized sales growth, upward estimate revisions, association with the AI theme, and valuation expansion explain the narrow rally. The “Magnificent 7” (AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, NVDA, META, TSLA) now comprise 29% of S&P 500 market cap and collectively have returned 71% YTD. The remaining 493 stocks in the index have returned just 6%.

Luis Louro / shutterstock.com

Methodology

For this article we used Insider Monkey’s screener for insider trading and picked the biggest insider purchases initiated over the past two months.

Stocks Insiders are Buying Now

13. Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS)

Insider Purchase Date: October 25

Carole Nuechterlein, a director and 10% owner at Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS), in October 2023 bought 7.9 million shares of the biotech company at $0.76 per share. Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS) has gained 8.67% over the past one month through November 22. The total value of the transaction was over $6 million.

Earlier this month, Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS) filed a prospectus related to the resale of up to an aggregate of 168,725,925 shares of common stock.

Insider Monkey’s database of 910 hedge funds shows that 12 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS) as of the end of the June quarter. At the conclusion of the September quarter the biggest stakeholder of Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGS) was Oleg Nodelman’s EcoR1 Capital which had a $2.9 million stake.

12. Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN)

Insider Purchase Date: November 1

Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN) ranks 12th in our list of the stocks insiders are buying. Earlier in November Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN)’s CEO Dustin Moskovitz bought 237,015 shares of the company at $17.50 per share. The CEO of Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN) has been amassing shares of the company consistently since September this year.

Diamond Hill Capital made the following comment about Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“Work management software company Asana, Inc. (NYSE:ASAN) has, in our view, a relatively undifferentiated and discretionary software product within a software category that will likely be meaningfully smaller than anticipated. Additionally, Asana’s operating losses continue to widen as its revenues have begun decelerating.”

11. CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF)

Insider Purchase Date: November 1

George A. Borba, a director at CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF), earlier this month bought 212,000 shares of the California-based banking company on November 1. The total value of this transaction was about $3.4 million.

10. Remitly Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:RELY)

Insider Purchase Date: November 3

Nigel Morris, a board member at financial services company Remitly Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:RELY), bought 250,000 shares of the company earlier this month. The per-share price of the transaction was $19.27. The total transaction value was around $4.82 million.

Earlier this month Remitly Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:RELY) posted Q3 results. GAAP EPS in the quarter came in at -$0.20, missing estimates by $0.04. Revenue in the period jumped about 42.7% year over year to $241.63 million, beating estimates by $2.43 million.

9. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)

Insider Purchase Date: November 3

Richard Barry, who is a director at Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT), bought 50,000 shares of the company at $78.81 per share. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)’s CEO Douglas Ingram also bought 25,225 shares of the company earlier this month at $79.36 per share.

As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 53 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT). The biggest stakeholder of Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) was Kurt Von Emster’s VenBio Select Advisor which owns a $530 million stake in the company.

Bronte Capital Amalthea Fund made the following comment about Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:

“The FDA is widely considered to be the world’s foremost regulator of drug products, with a stringent and rigorous process for evaluating new marketing applications. Disagreements between the FDA and regulators in other developed markets (such as the European Medicines Agency or the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)) are rare, and when they do occur, it is usually because the FDA has taken a more critical view of the applicant’s evidence.

For a drug to be approved in the US, it must meet the statutory requirement of “substantial evidence of effectiveness” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. There are essentially three ways to meet this requirement. Normally, the FDA expects the sponsor to succeed in two “adequate and well-controlled studies”. Alternatively, the sponsor can rely on success from a single study if the results from that study are “very persuasive”, or if they are combined with some sort of independent confirmatory evidence. For the most part lobbying from the cohort of patients, the “patient voice”, has played a relatively minor role in the FDA’s decision-making process and the agency has been prepared to make tough but rational decisions when the “substantial evidence” standard is clearly not met.

However, this was not the case in 2016 when the FDA famously overruled its own review team and external advisory committee to approve Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:SRPT) controversial drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Exondys 51). At the time, Sarepta had completed a single phase 2 trial in just 12 patients which, per the FDA Commissioner (Robert Califf) himself, had “major flaws” in both its design and conduct. Ellis Unger, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation at the FDA, declared that the drug was a “scientifically elegant placebo”, and that patients and their families were taking on unknown risks for likely non-existent benefits…” (Click here to read the full text)

8. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)

Insider Purchase Date: November 6

Timothy Cofer, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)’s COO, bought 100,000 shares of the company at a per-share price of $31.17. The total value of this transaction was $3.12 million.

Earlier this month Jefferies started covering Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) stock with a Buy rating. While the firm noted Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP)’s at-home coffee business is showing weakness, it is bullish on the stock due to growth in energy, ready-to-drink coffee and tea, and sports drinks categories. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) set a $39 price target on the stock.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) talked about its guidance in Q3 earnings call:

“We are reaffirming our consolidated outlook for 2023 and continue to target constant currency net sales growth of 5% to 6% and adjusted EPS growth of 6% to 7%. Our EPS outlook assumes minimal benefits from nonoperational items in 2023, implying double-digit EPS growth on an underlying basis. Our guidance for below-the-line items is consistent with last quarter. For the year, we continue to expect interest expense in a $470 million to $475 million range, effective tax rate of 22% and approximately $1.41 billion diluted weighted average shares outstanding. We expect a strong end to the year in quarter four with similar top-line dynamics in quarter three and even a stronger gross margin expansion. At the same time, we will be lapping approximately $67 million of nonoperational gains in last year’s fourth quarter, primarily concentrated in the U.S. Coffee segment, which creates a challenging comparison.

Blending these factors together, we expect Q4 adjusted EPS of approximately $0.54 or 8% year-over-year growth. On an underlying basis, this represents strong double-digit EPS growth.”

Read the full earnings call transcript here.

7. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM)

Insider Purchase Date: November 6

Famous activist investor Jeff Ubben, who is also a board member at Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), amassed 250,000 shares of the oil giant earlier this month. The average per-share price of the transaction was $105.97.

Out of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 71 hedge funds reported having stakes in Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM). The biggest stakeholder of Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) was Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management which had a $1.4 billion stake in Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM).

6. Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR)

Insider Purchase Date: November 7

Insurance company Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR) is one of the stocks insiders are purchasing. Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR)’s CEO Dominic Francis Michael Silvester bought 45,000 shares of the company at a per-share price of $227.18.

As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 10 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR). As of the end of the September quarter, the biggest stakeholder of Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR) was Harry Gail’s Harspring Capital Management which owns a $42 million stake in the company.

Diamond Hill Capital made the following comment about Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:

“Other top contributors included Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ:ESGR), ESAB Corp and Taseko Mines. Shares of runoff consolidator Enstar bounced back from a tough Q3. Enstar buys other companies’ non-core business lines and efficiently settles claims until the liabilities are exhausted. It has a proven ability to compound value over time and create value across cycles, and we believe it can continue to do so.”

Click to continue reading and see 5 Stocks Insiders are Buying Now.