Insider Buys Of The Week: JPMorgan, Salesforce, Signet And More

Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors/

An insider made a buy after a financial giant posted quarterly earnings.

An insider at a software company bucked the trend of executives selling.

Conventional wisdom says that 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.

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.

JPMorgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM saw a director buy 18,000 shares of this New York-based financial giant early last week.

The share price for this purchase was $111.05 and the total for the transaction was more than $1.99 million. The acquisition also more than doubled that director's stake to 28,000 shares.

JPMorgan recently kicked off the new earnings reporting season with better-than-expected first-quarter results. The shares have retreated less than 2 percent since the report and ended the past week at $111.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down fractionally in the past week. The analysts' mean price target for the shares is $121.78.

Apollo Global

Apollo Global Management LLC APO saw beneficial owner Tiger Global Management add to its stake. At prices that ranged from $28.97 to $29.05, the 50,000 shares of this investment manager acquired in the past week totaled more than $1.45 million. That brought the stake to more than 34.37 million shares, compared with a total float of about 198.88 million.

The New York-based private equity firm is expected to reveal its first-quarter results on May 3. Its shares ended the past week trading at $29.26, so it appears the timing of the purchase may be fortunate. The consensus price target is $39.14 and the shares have traded as high as $37.35 in the past year.

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Salesforce

At salesforce.com, inc. CRM, one director bucked the trend by buying while the CEO and others were selling. At between $123.59 and $124.05 per share, the 6,000 shares reportedly acquired in the past week cost that director more than $742,800. Not including options exercised, more than 42,000 shares were listed as sold by the CEO, COO, CTO and others last week.

Efforts to aggressively protect Salesforce's moat impressed at least one analyst recently. The stock ended the past week about 2 percent higher, closing most recently at $122.82, though that is below the purchase price range above. Shares have traded as high as $128.87 in the past year, and the consensus price target is $137.35.

Ryman Hospitality

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc RHP saw its CEO and board chairman Colin Reed step up to the buy window this past week. The more than 6,100 shares of this hotel-and-resort-focused real estate investment trust Reed acquired, at an average share price of $79.34, cost him less than $487,300. The purchase was associated with a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan.

The Nashville-based REIT is scheduled to release its first-quarter results May 1. The stock ended the past week's trading about where it began, a pause after a nearly 3-percent gain in the previous week. Friday's close was $78.85, less than the CEO's purchase price. The stock has traded as high as $80.04 a share in the past 52 weeks and as low as $57.78.

Signet Jewelers

Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG saw CEO Virginia Drosos scoop up less than 9,000 shares of the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry. At share prices between $38.72 and $39.72, the transactions totaled almost $350,000. Her direct ownership stake is now listed at more than 120,800 shares.

Signet's solid quarterly report with weak guidance last month led to analyst downgrades. The shares closed this past week's trading at $38.65, which is a bit less than the CEO's purchase price. The stock is still down about 30 percent year-to-date. Shares have traded as high as $77.94 in the past year.

See also: Some Perspective On A Possible Pinnacle Foods Buyout

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

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