Insider Buys Of The Week: Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Macy's And More

• Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.
• Insiders at a biotech took advantage of a secondary offering this past week.
• Several retailers saw notable insider purchases as well.

Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10-percent owners only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will rise and want to profit. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly during periods of uncertainty.

Here's a look at some notable insider purchases reported in the past week.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc ICPT CEO Mark Pruzanski and three other insiders bought more than 407,000 shares of this New York-based biopharma company early in the week. The share price for the buys was $64, as part of a recently announced secondary offering. The total for the transactions was more than $26.07 million.

The largest of the purchases was more than 390,000 shares bought by beneficial owner Genextra S.p.A.

Intercept shares rose about 6 percent after the insider buys, but ended the week up about 2 percent at $73.07. The Nasdaq was up less than 1 percent last week. The stock has changed hands at levels as high as $135.59 per share in the past year.

Entercom Communications

Entercom Communications Corp. ETM Chairman Emeritus Joseph Field continues to build his stake. At prices that ranged from $9.55 to $9.80, the 375,000 shares of this radio broadcaster that Field acquired in the past week cost him more than $3.63 million. The latest purchases were part of a passive investment trading plan established late last month.

The Pennsylvania-based company posted quarterly results last month and announced a dividend. The stock ended the past week trading at $9.65, about the same as a week earlier and with no quick gain for Field. from the latest buy. The recent 52-week low was $9.25, but shares have traded as high as $14.53 within the past year.

See also: Elon Musk Hits Back At The Economist, Says Tesla Will Be Profitable And Cash Flow Positive In Q3 And Q4

Radius Health

At Radius Health Inc RDUS, beneficial owner Biotech Growth added to its stake. The Curacao-based fund reportedly acquired 50,000 shares in the past week at $36.58 each for a total purchase price of nearly $1.83 million. The stake was last listed at more than 5.90 million shares; the fund is owned by the Swiss investment firm BB Biotech.

Radius recently initiated a Phase 3 study of a treatment for male osteoporosis. The stock was more than 6-percent lower in the last week and most recently closed at $34, beneath the aforementioned insider purchase price. Shares have traded as high as $49.16 in the past year, and the consensus price target is $46.33.

Conn's

At Conn's Inc CONN, the chief accounting officer and the chief human resources officer each stepped up to the buy window this past week. The total acquisition was more than 12,400 shares of this specialty retailer, at share prices that ranged from $27.25 to $27.93. The total share purchase was more than $344,000.

The Woodlands, Texas-based company recently posted quarterly results that beat on the bottom line but fell short on the top. Its shares ended the past week with a gain of more than 2 percent, although they were up more than 8 percent at one point. Friday's closing price of $27.75 was within the purchase price range mentioned above. The stock has traded as high as $37.80 in the past 52 weeks, but also as low as $8.20.

Macy's

Macy's Inc M CEO Jeffrey Gennette scooped up 10,000 shares of the department store's stock last week. At an average price of $29.10 per share, the transaction totaled almost $291,000. Gennette's direct ownership stake is now listed at more than 99,000 shares.

It was recently reported that Gennette is paid 806 times the salary of a median worker at the Cincinnati-based company. The shares closed this past week's trading at $28.26 each, which is above the CEO's purchase price. The stock is still up more than 7 percent year to date despite the recent pullback. Shares have traded as high as $31.04 in the past year.

See also: 'A Buying Opportunity In Facebook': Analysts React To Zuckerberg's Congressional Testimony

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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