Recent Insider Buying at Navistar, Walgreen (NAV, OPK, WAG)

Insiders may sell shares for any number of reasons, but conventional wisdom is that insiders really only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will move higher 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.

Navistar

One director and Carl Icahn, a beneficial (10 percent) owner, bought more than 2.1 million shares combined in mid-July. That was worth more than $69.7 million. At about that time, Navistar NAV amended its shareholder rights plan to avoid a proxy fight with Icahn, and it launched its International Workstar line.

The market capitalization is more than $2 billion and the return on equity is more than 118 percent. Shares of this truck and RV maker are up less than 10 percent since mid-June. The stock has outperformed competitor PACCAR PCAR and the broader markets over the past six months.

See also: MHR and Icahn to Not Run Proxy Contest at 2014 Annual Meeting

Opko Health

The chairman continues to buy batches of shares periodically, as he has done for more than a year. He scooped up more than 125,000 Opko Health OPK shares in the past two weeks in five batches. The total price of those purchases was more than $918,000.

This Miami-based health care company has a market cap of more than $2 billion, and short interest is about 20 percent of its float. The share price is up more than 10 percent in the past month and approaching the 52-week high. Over the past six months, the stock has outperformed competitors such as Allergan AGN.

Walgreen

One director recently bought more than 34,000 shares, worth more than $1.5 million, of this drugstore operator, after buying more than $4 million in shares back in April. The most recent purchase followed a more then 14 percent boost in Walgreen's WAG dividend.

The suburban Chicago-based company has a market cap of less than $48 billion. Its dividend yield is about 2.6 percent. The share price has recovered from a 13 percent pullback in June. The stock has outperformed CVS Caremark CVS and Walmart WMT over the past six months.

ETFs and Alternatives

Investors interested in exchange traded funds focused on insider sentiment might want to consider the following trades.

• Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment Shares KNOW is up more than 18 percent year-to-date.
• Guggenheim Insider Sentiment NFO is up almost 20 percent year-to-date.

Traders may prefer to consider these alternatives to some of the stocks listed above:

• Oshkosh OSK is more than 26 percent higher year-to-date.
• Boston Scientific BSX is more than 64 percent higher year-to-date.
• Rite Aid RAD is about 115 percent higher year-to-date.