Insider Buys Of The Week: Dish Network, Hartford Financial, Medtronic

• Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.
• A couple of notable CEOs showed up at the buy windows this past week.
• Some of these share purchases were pursuant to established trading plans.

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 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.

Medtronic

Medtronic PLC MDT saw CEO Omar Ishrak and also its chief financial officer adding to their stakes. At per-share prices that ranged from $83.50 to $84.77, the 15,000 shares reportedly acquired altogether cost them around $1.26 million. That brought Ishrak's stake to more than 570,000 shares. Around 1.3 million shares are said to be outstanding.

Ishrak recently pushed back on critics who claim the medical device giant has a "spotty record." The stock ended last week at $84.84 per share, just above the top of the above purchase price range. Shares have traded as high as $100.15 in the past year, and the consensus price target is at $103.56.

See Also: Tilray's Largest Shareholder To Maintain Stake After Lock-Up Expiration

Dish Network

A DISH Network Corp DISH executive vice president purchase added another 25,000 shares of this pay-TV provider early last week. At an average of $28.38 a share, the transaction totaled more than $709,500. The executive made similar purchases at the end of December, as well as smaller ones earlier in the month, pursuant to a 10b5-1 trading plan.

The company recently announced it will add Google Assistant to its hardware offerings. Shares closed Friday at $28.15, after ending the week more than 1 percent lower. They've traded as low as $23.22 and as high as $49.71 in the past 52 weeks. The consensus price target of $49.14 is just under that high.

Hartford Financial Services

At Hartford Financial Services Group Inc HIG, CEO Christopher Swift took a turn at a buy window this past week. That was 11,400 shares of this insurance and financial services provider bought. At a share price of $43.47, that totaled less than $500,000, and it brought his stake to more than 135,300 shares. This transaction also was pursuant to a 10b5-1 trading plan.

The company introduced a line of credit and political risk insurance products back in December. Shares were trading at $44.46 a share on last look, so the purchase worked out to be well timed. They changed hands as high as $59.20 apiece in the past year. However, the analysts polled have a consensus price target of $55.76.