We recently published a list of 20 Small-Cap Stocks Insiders Were Buying in Q1 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) stands against other small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.
President Donald Trump’s initial unilateral 10% tariff went into effect on Saturday, at least partly causing the drop in the stock market. On Sunday, the President said “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” as reported by CNBC.
On Monday morning, the broader market index lost 1.87%, marking an 11% loss over the past five trading days, signaling the possibility of entering a bear market. Also, during Monday’s morning session, the blue-chip companies declined 2.34% and the NASDAQ Composite lost 1.57%.
Amid market uncertainty, insider trading often attracts attention. Executive stock purchases can indicate optimism, while sales might reflect personal financial decisions or investment diversification. Executives usually follow pre-arranged strategies, such as 10b5-1 plans, and insider trading should be considered alongside the company’s financial health and market conditions.
Our Methodology
Today, we’re focusing on stocks with small market capitalizations that have seen heavy insider buying activity in the first quarter of the year. Using Insider Monkey’s insider trading screener, we identified companies with market caps between $250 million and $2 billion, where at least four insiders purchased shares in the past three months. From this list, we ranked the top 20 stocks with the highest number of insiders making purchases. Stocks that have been recently covered were excluded from our analysis.
Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
For each stock, we note the number of insiders who acquired shares in the first quarter and the market capitalizations. Let’s take a look at the 20 small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.

A grocery store employee stocking shelves with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)
Number of insiders buying: 5
Market Capitalization: $1.33 billion
Grocery Outlet Holding is a retailer in the U.S. offering consumables and fresh products through independently operated stores. The Emeryville, California-based retailer sells a variety of products including dairy, produce, meat, seafood, and more. Operating through independently owned franchises, it targets value-conscious customers seeking quality products at a discount. Grocery Outlet Holding is also one of the 12 stocks that are about to explode.
In February and March, five insiders, including the CFO, bought around $2.95 million worth of Grocery Outlet Holding shares at an average price of $11.74 per share. The stock now trades at $13.70 per share, having dropped 12.24% year-to-date and 49.28% over the past 12 months.
In fiscal 2024, the company had net sales of $4.37 billion, up by 10.1% year-over-year. Gross margin was 30.2%, compared to 31.3% in fiscal 2023. Comparable store sales increased by 2.7% year-over-year. Net income was $39.5 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to $79.4 million, or $0.79 per diluted share in fiscal 2023. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 6.3% to $236.8 million, or 5.4% of net sales.
Twelve analysts rate Grocery Outlet Holding stock as “Hold” with a price target of $16.08 per share. The average price target indicates a 17.37% upside from the latest price.
Overall, GO ranks 8th on our list of small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of GO, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.