Insider Buying Heats Up in Spite of Big Market Rally

We cover insider trading every week at 24/7 Wall St., and it makes sense to always check our reports to see if any of the stocks you own are hitting our screens. Insider activity can often be a leading indicator for a company.

Here is this past week’s list of insider buying.

Aon PLC (NYSE: AON) saw a director step up to the plate for a large serving of stock. Lester Knight bought 60,000 shares of the stock at $90.40. The total purchase came to $5.4 million. The company provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services worldwide. Shares closed trading Friday at $91.39, so perhaps a timely trade.

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Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) is a very volatile tech stock that saw a nice purchase last week. A director at the company bought 58,480 shares at $42.80. The total for the buy came to $2.5 million. This is notable for investors as the stock is making 52-week highs. The director’s timing was good as Rackspace was trading at $44.92 as of Friday’s close.

Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) is a top office real estate investment trust (REIT) that saw a big insider trade this week. A director of the company bought a block of 187,400 shares of the stock at $19.20. The total purchase came to $3.6 million. Shares were trading Friday right in line with the buy, closing at $19.22.

C&J Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: CJES) is one of the many battered oil services stocks. Investors will be pleased to know that a 10% owner of the company, General Atlantic, added to its holdings this week by purchasing 164,539 shares at $18.50. The total buy came to $3 million. Shares ended the week at $18.80.

Platform Specialty Products Corp. (NYSE: PAH) investors will be glad to know that a director of the company added to his holdings this week. The director bought 47,601 shares of the stock at $26, for a total purchase of $1.2 million. The company had a secondary offering earlier in the month at $24.50, so this is a bullish sign for shareholders. The stock was trading Friday at $26.01.

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These companies also saw significant insider buying this week: Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. (NYSE: SBY), Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD), STAAR Surgical Co. (NASDAQ: STAA), Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) and Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH).