Annaly Capital, VIVUS And Others Insiders Have Been Buying

Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but conventional wisdom says that insiders 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 provide a perfect opportunity for investors who have faith in a company to snap up shares. Here are some stocks that have seen insider buying recently. AGCO One director has bought almost 1.1 million shares in batches so far this month. That was worth around $61.6 million. Agricultural equipment maker AGCO AGCO fell short of earnings per share (EPS) estimates in its most recent quarterly report but left its guidance unchanged. The market capitalization is more than $5 billion, and it has a dividend yield of about 0.7 percent. The long-term EPS growth forecast is more than 12 percent. Shares have retreated about six percent in the past month. The stock has outperformed competitor Deere DE over the past six months. Aircastle One director, Marubeni Corp., has been scooping up batches of Aircastle AYR shares since August. That included more than 65,000 of them this week,for more than $2.1 million. This jet-rental company posted better-than-expected quarterly results at the end of October. The market cap is more than $1 billion and the long-term EPS growth forecast is more than 29 percent. The dividend yield is about 3.5 percent. Shares are trading almost nine percent higher than a month ago. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitors Air Lease AL and FLY Leasing FLY. Annaly Capital Management The CEO, the president and the COO grabbed a combined 218,000 Annaly Capital Management NLY shares so far this month, at a total price of about $2.3 million. Note that the company's third-quarter results disappointed analysts and investors. The market cap of this New York-based real estate investment trust (REIT) is more than $10 billion. Its dividend yield is about 11.9 percent. Shares have retreated almost seven percent in the past month. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed the broader markets. See also: Limiting Losses While Hunting For Yield Murphy Oil A director and former CEO of Murphy Oil MUR picked himself up 20,000 shares of the company's stock this week for more than $1.2 million. This followed the announcement of a $250 million accelerated share repurchase transaction. This oil and gas exploration and production company has a market cap more than $11 billion and a dividend yield of about 2.1%. The long-term EPS growth forecast is more than 12 percent. Shares have faced resistance near $62 since early September, but the stock has outperformed Exxon Mobil XOM over the past six months. Omega Healthcare Investors This week, one director bought more than $1.4 million worth of Omega Healthcare Investors OHI shares. That came to more than 46,000 shares. This investor in in long-term health care facilities reported better-than-expected quarterly results at the end of October. This REIT has a market cap of less than $4 billion and a dividend yield of about 5.9 percent. The return on equity is less than 15 percent. Shares are down about three percent in the past two weeks. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitors Healthcare Realty Trust HR and Ventas VTR. VIVUS One director recently purchased more than 556,000 VIVUS VVUS shares in two batches for a total price of more than $4.8 million. Both sales were after the mixed third-quarter results but before news that the biotech company had been issued two key patents. This Mountain View, California-based company has a market cap of near $1 billion but does not offer a dividend. The share price has pulled back about nine percent in the past month. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed the likes of Amgen AMGN. See also: VIVUS Awarded Two U.S. Patents For Qsymia At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.