Insiders are using the recent market sell-off to purchase weak shares, at least that is the case for these stocks. Insiders can sell shares for a multitude of reasons. But when they buy shares on the open market it is because they believe those shares are going to rise down the road. These are some of the key insider transactions we have seen in the past few trading days:

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) director Mallika Srinivasan has been accumulating shares. Some 304,066 shares were bought on Friday to take the position up to 2.348 million shares worth some $13.12 million. In the last week and a half that position was grown substantially as this stake has more than doubled before the buying began on November 9.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) saw President Kevin Keyes purchase 100,000 shares at $13.90 on November 15, worth some $1.39 million. This is after weakness has persisted.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) continues to see Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) purchase more and more shares. We already saw the full Buffett holdings last week, and we knew that the stake was larger than it was on the September 30 cutoff date. After purchases on three days last week, the stake is at some 11.88 million shares.

The Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) saw 10% owner Carl Icahn (and related entities) buy another 75,000 shares, worth $4.4 million, to lift his stake to 7.239 million shares.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) saw director Steven Vincent Tesoriere make two purchases: 1.338 million shares and 1.9 million shares at $2.27 each. He now holds 18.43 million shares.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) saw Bill Gates increase his stake in the company, with his Cascade Investment vehicle buying another 8.14 million shares worth some $218 million. The 10%+ owner now holds more than 86.1 million shares.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) has seen more of that formal control being taken by John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ: LMCA). Some 25.89 million shares were bought on November 14, another 44.725 million shares on November 15 and another 11.81 million shares were purchased on November 16. The total shares held now are 1.9392 billion shares.

Take-Two Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) saw more than 300,000 shares purchased from $11.43 to $11.50, and Icahn now holds over 12 million shares.

JON C. OGG

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