Microsoft, Bank Of New York And Others Insiders Have Been Buying

Secondary offerings by small biotech companies have brought out the insider buyers recently, as did the sell-off following Microsoft's disappointing quarterly report. Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but conventional wisdom says that they really only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. Pullbacks and sell-offs can provide a perfect opportunity for investors who have faith in a company to snap up shares.

The CEO and one director recently picked up a total of 11,000

shares at $95.00, while 10 percent owner Sanofi also bought more than 843,000 more. The total price was more than $80.8 million. Alnylam raised $450 million in a secondary offering of shares. This Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company now has a market capitalization of more than $7 billion and a long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast of about 46 percent. Shares ended the week at $93.83 and are down more than 3 percent since the beginning of the year.

One director last week purchased 273,000 shares of

. At $36.63 apiece, that came to nearly $10 million and brought his stake to more than 29 million shares. Profits rose sharply in the fourth quarter but fell short of the consensus forecast. This $40 billion market cap financial services company has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio less than the industry average, and its operating margin is greater than the industry average. Shares ended the trading session Friday at $36.00, after retreating more than 11 percent year to date.

One director bought more than 35,000 shares of this San Francisco area biotechnology company in January. At a prices ranging from $25.76 to $27.03 each, the total came to more than $938,000. Also Point72 Asset Management acquired an almost 6 percent stake in Five Prime, which earlier in the month raised $84.3 million in a secondary offering.

's

market cap is around $560 million. Note that the consensus forecast calls for a deeper net loss this year than last. Shares closed Friday at $26.31, up about 119 percent from six months ago but less than 3 percent lower year to date.

The chief executive officer last week obtained more than 550,000 shares of

for around $15.0 million. The per-share price was $27.00. Intrexon also had a public offering of stock, and it said it planned to acquire the remaining stake in Exemplar Genetics. The market cap of this West Palm Beach, Florida-based biotech company now is less than $4 billion. It is expected to post net losses for both the just completed year and the current year. The share price at Friday's close was at $28.71, after hitting a multiyear high of $40.49 earlier in the month.

shares dropped about 14 percent following a disappointing earnings report, and one director took advantage of the situation to pick up more than 23,000 shares at $42.34 apiece. That was worth just shy of a million dollars. The market cap of this tech giant is more than $331 billion. Its P/E ratio is less than the industry average and the return on equity is more than 24 percent. With shares at $40.40 at week's end, perhaps the buy was premature. The stock is down about 13 percent year to date.

Last week, three directors and a 10 percent owner took advantage of a secondary offering and between them picked up more than 350,000 shares of

at a price of $17.25 apiece. That was worth around $6 million. This Redwood City, California-based biopharmaceutical company has a market cap near $410 million. Note that the return on equity is in the red, and short interest is almost 10 percent of the float. Shares ended the trading session Friday at $17.73. The stock is down about 21 percent year to date.

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