Although U.S. equity markets do not appear to be tired of hitting all-time highs, corporate insiders keep buying shares – insider buying activity is usually non-existent when stock market benchmarks are hovering around all-time highs. In today’s information age, with an abundance of contradictory news signals and the emergence of fake news (mainly manufactured by President Donald Trump and his team), are there indicators investors can safely rely on? How about securities purchases by company executives and Board members who put their own hard-earned capital at stake?
As well-known mutual fund manager Peter Lynch once observed: “Insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.” More importantly, a number of academic studies support Mr. Lynch’s conclusion that corporate insiders are good at trading their own company’s shares. The so-called insider anomaly has been supported by dozens of research papers conducted by professors at top-tier universities and pundits in the area of insider trading. However, investors should not solely follow a random executive buying or selling shares. Instead, one should incorporate insider trading metrics into their broader stock analysis process to decrease the odds of making wrong bets. That being said, let’s discuss a set of noteworthy insider transactions reported with the SEC on Tuesday.
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Several Insiders at Promising Biotechnology Company Buy Shares Via Public Offering
Five corporate insiders at Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDX) recently purchased shares via a public offering, so let’s have a look at the most voluminous purchases. Board member Richard H. Douglas acquired a new stake of 40,000 shares on Friday at a price of $4.50 per share. President and Chief Executive Officer Todd C. Brady snapped up 22,223 shares on the same day at the same price, boosting his ownership to 64,408 shares.
The biotechnology company focused on the development of new products for inflammation, inborn errors of metabolism, and other diseases related to aldehydes raised around $10.5 million from the offering. Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDX) plans to use the proceeds to push forward the development of its lead compound, ADX-102, and other product candidates, as well as fund research and development activities, working capital and other general corporate needs. ADX-102, a product candidate that has enjoyed significant development, is a novel small molecule chemical entity designed to trap and allow for the degradation of aldehydes, toxic chemicals species suspected to cause and exacerbate numerous diseases in humans and animals. The shares of Aldeyra Therapeutics have gained 36% in the past 12 months. Baker Bros. Advisors LP, founded by Julian and Felix Baker, reported owning 142,000 shares of Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDX) through the latest round of 13Fs.
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The second page of the article discusses fresh insider buying at two other companies.