We recently compiled a list of the 10 Large-Cap Stocks with Insider Buying in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) stands against the other large-cap stocks.
Insider buying is one of the strongest indirect signals that analysts and successful investors often use to assess whether a stock is undervalued or not. The intuition behind this stems from the fact that high-ranked insiders such as named executive officers and directors possess confidential information that may give greater visibility into the company’s future and growth trajectory. Insiders leverage such information as real-time data on sales and orders, and discussions with key clients, suppliers and other stakeholders, to form a better understanding of the company’s valuation. For instance, insiders often show net selling of their own company stock at peak valuations, just days or weeks before a major market correction happens; and vice versa, insiders often show net buying at or near market bottoms, days or weeks before the stock price starts to increase. This is clearly not a coincidence most of the time. Also, many successful investors emphasized the idea that insider buying is often a stronger signal than selling. Here is what Peter Lynch, one of the greatest ever, said on this topic:
“Insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.”
With the US stock market having experienced a very strong bull market for the last 2 years, insider buying has become increasingly muted, with insider selling starting to prevail, especially in apparently overbought sectors like technology. This trend suggests that executives and institutional investors may see limited upside in certain high-flying stocks, prompting them to lock in gains. However, a significant portion of those strong returns have been driven only by a handful of companies, often called the “Magnificent 8”, which experienced an uplift from AI and other megatrends. At the same time, on an equal-weight basis, the US stock market has had a more modest performance. Some sectors like healthcare are at or near multi-year lows on a relative basis, driven by a combination of headwinds as well as a lack of tailwinds to the same extent as the technology leaders. The key takeaway for investors is that regardless of what point in the cycle we are, or how long into a bull market we are, both buying and selling opportunities will exist.
ALSO READ: 10 Technology Stocks with Insider Buying in 2024
The US stock market is still near its early 2025 all-time high and exhibits peak concentration and net insider selling. We believe that at such extreme points, when high valuation concerns are widely spread in the news, the signals provided by insiders buying their own company stocks are more valuable than ever. Their actions can indicate where genuine value exists beneath the broader market’s surface, highlighting sectors or individual companies that may be overlooked or undervalued. Insider buying in such an environment suggests confidence in a company’s long-term fundamentals, despite broader market uncertainties or short-term volatility. Investors who pay close attention to these signals may uncover opportunities in sectors that have lagged behind, offering potential for strong future returns as market conditions evolve. Last but not least, large-cap companies are usually widely followed and exhibit more price efficiency; consequently, insider buying signals in these stocks are even more relevant in our opinion.
Our Methodology
We used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener to find large-cap stocks with at least two insiders buying shares worth at least $100,000 in the last six months. We believe that multiple insiders buying significant amounts of stock represents a higher chance that insiders have high confidence in the company. For all the companies, we also include the number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, as of Q4 2024, that own the stock. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their hedge fund holdings.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. 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).
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International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) is a multinational technology company offering a wide range of products and services, including hardware, software, cloud computing, and consulting. IBM operates in over 175 countries and is recognized as one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company has a significant presence in the technology industry, managing 90% of all credit card transactions globally and overseeing 50% of all wireless connections worldwide. IBM’s business segments include Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing, providing comprehensive solutions to various industries.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) has positioned itself as a leader in hybrid cloud and AI, with 93% of Fortune 500 companies leveraging their capabilities. The company has built a significant AI book of business worth $5 billion in just 6 quarters, with 80% in Consulting and 20% in Software. IBM closed 2024 with $63 billion in revenue and $12.7 billion in free cash flow, demonstrating strong financial performance. The company’s growth strategy is built on multiple pillars, including a software-led portfolio approaching 45% of revenue, strategic partnerships, and continued innovation in hybrid cloud and AI.
Looking forward, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) has provided guidance for revenue growth inflecting up to 5-plus percent, with continued operating leverage and adjusted EBITDA growing double digits in 2025. The company’s software business is expected to grow at approximately 10%, driven by Red Hat’s acceleration to mid-teens growth, new mainframe cycle, and disciplined capital allocation M&A engine. IBM maintains a strong commitment to innovation with increased R&D spending to 12% from 9% of revenues, while also focusing on productivity improvements that have generated $3.5 billion in savings. The company’s strategic positioning in emerging technologies is evident through its quantum computing initiatives, with quantum-related signings approaching $1 billion and a clear roadmap for quantum advantage by 2026. With that being said, insider buying further reinforces the strong outlook for the future.
Overall IBM ranks 4th on our list of the large-cap stocks with insider buying in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of IBM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IBM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
