Insider Trading Alert: eBay Inc. (EBAY), Other Companies Witness Notable Insider Buying

Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE:MNK) had a large volume of insider buying last week, as four different insiders purchased stock. To start with, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Ian J. Watkins purchased 470 shares on Friday for $66.49 each, boosting his overall stake to 13,572 shares. Hugh O’Neill, Senior Vice President and President of Autoimmune and Rare Diseases snapped up 750 shares on the same day at a weighted average cost of $66.78 and currently holds 9,765 shares. Coleman N. Lannum, Senior Vice President, Investor Strategy and Investor Relations Officer, reported the acquisition of 1,200 shares on Friday at $66.77-to-$66.94 per share, 400 shares of which are held by his wife. After the recent acquisition, the executive holds a direct ownership stake of 9,986 shares. Last but not least, Meredith Fischer, Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, purchased 2,200 shares at a weighted average price of $66.93, enlarging her holdings to 14,280 shares.

The shares of the specialty biopharmaceutical and nuclear imaging business are down by 27% for the year, but several financial services hubs have great expectations for the company. Just recently, Northland Capital reiterated its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock and raised its price target to $95 from $92, which yields an upside of at least 32%. Similarly, Mallinckrodt’s management anticipates that the company is well-positioned to benefit from the increased global access to healthcare, the growing demand for pharmaceutical products from emerging countries, and from the fast-increasing focus on diagnostic imaging for early diagnosis of diseases. Conan Laughlin’s North Tide Capital added a 1.00 million-share position in Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE:MNK) to its portfolio during the September quarter.

Lastly, let’s discuss a sizable insider purchase registered at NN Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR). Director David L. Pugh purchased 41,266 shares on Monday and 5,314 shares on Tuesday at prices ranging from $17.00-to-$17.05 per share, and currently holds 73,500 shares. The shares of the diversified industrial company are 17% in the red year-to-date, and are trading at a cheap trailing P/E ratio of 18.32. Hence, it appears that the market either underestimates the potential of the company and its six acquisitions that have been closed since the beginning of 2014 or simply does not believe in management’s ability to integrate those businesses. At the same time, a potential economic recession could have a negative impact on the company’s end markets, which could in turn put downward pressure on its financial performance and growth strategy. In fact, NN experienced a substantial reduction in customer orders throughout 2009 mainly as a result of diminishing demand in the automotive and industrial end markets in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. The recent recession on the European continent also adversely impacted NN’s businesses quite significantly. Meanwhile, 17 hedge funds from our database were invested in the company at the end of the third quarter, amassing nearly 12% of its outstanding shares. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, owns 1.49 million shares of NN Inc. (NASDAQ:NNBR) as of September 30.

Disclosure: None