Insider Buys Of The Week: Iovance, Mohawk, United Continental

• Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.
• A couple of directors made return trips to the buy window last week.
• Also, shares of one of these companies sank to a multiyear low.

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

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

Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc IOVA saw a director adding to his stake this past week. At per-share prices of $9.40 to $10.51, the more than 1.22 million shares reportedly acquired cost him more than $12.45 million. That brought this director's stake to more than 7 million shares, which compares to a total float of over 116 million shares.

This San Carlos, California-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focuses on cancer immunotherapy products. The stock ended this past week at $8.97 per share, which is less than the director's purchase price range. Shares have traded as high as $19.90 in the past year, but note the consensus price target is up at $31.33.

See Also: Aphria Fires Back Following Short Seller Allegations, Stock Continues Fall

Mohawk Industries

One Mohawk Industries, Inc. MHK director added another 48,000 or so shares of this flooring products company to his stake this past week. The share price for these purchases ranged from $123.17 to $125.92, and the transactions totaled more than $9.67 million. Note that this director has been periodically buying batches of shares since last spring.

Mohawk recently announced the retirement of its chief financial officer. Shares sank to a multiyear low of $113.45 this past week but closed at $120.44. The consensus price target on the shares was last seen at $142.83, though the stock has traded as high as $282.21 per share in the past 52 weeks.

United Continental

A director of United Continental Holdings Inc UAL also stepped up to the buy window this past week. He picked up a total of 30,000 shares at between $90.80 and $93.40 apiece. That cost him more than $2.77 million. The director's stake was listed as up to around 157,700 shares.

United recently launched a new "premium economy" class, in between coach and business, for long its flights. The stock was trading at $88.23 a share on last look, so no quick pop for this insider either. Shares have changed hands in a 52-week range of $60.44 to $97.85, but note that the analysts have a consensus price target of $103.59.