Notable Insider Buys Last Week: Anthem, Discover Financial

Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.

A couple of CEOs stepped up to the buy window following earnings reports.

One of them was joined by other insiders at the company.

Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10% 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.

The following are significant insider purchases reported in the last week. Also note that with earnings season in full swing, buy windows for many insiders are closed.

Anthem

Anthem Inc ANTM CEO Gail Boudreaux purchased 7,600 shares of this health benefits giant last week. At $262.93 to $264.36 per share, that totaled more than $2 million. Note that some shares were acquired via a dividend reinvestment plan, and Boudreaux's stake is now listed as over 26,500 shares.

The Indianapolis-based company posted inline quarterly results, but some analysts lowered their price targets. The stock is down more than 11% year-to-date. Analysts still recommend buying the shares, and the consensus target price suggests almost 30% upside from the most recent close.

Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services DFS saw chief executive Roger Hochschild add to his stake. He picked up 15,000 shares of this payment services company at between $74.05 and $74.20 each. Three other executives bought 3,000 or more shares each as well. The total for these transactions came to more than $1.83 million. Hochschild had nearly 850,000 shares on last look.

These insiders were buying the dip following the company's fourth-quarter results and some analyst downgrades. The share price is down about 12% this year, while the S&P 500 has seen only a marginal decline. Overall, analysts recommend buying the stock, and the consensus target price is nearly 19% higher than Friday's close.

See also: Sour Finish: Stocks Dive, Led By Hotels, Airlines, As Fears Of Coronavirus Impact Increase

Note that the prior week's insider buying at PBF Energy Inc PBF and Trinity Industries Inc TRN continued into the past week. In addition, there was an insider purchase at mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX last week.

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

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