5 Computer Equipment Stocks Insiders Are Buying

Updated

When insiders buy shares on the open market, their companies could enjoy bullish times ahead. Corporate insiders often have the inside track on their companies' prospects, and often have significant exposure to the company's stock through options or restricted shares that are part of their compensation. Besides, insiders probably wouldn't risk plowing too much of their own money into their own company's stock -- reducing their portfolio's diversity, and increasing its risk -- unless they thought the stock will rise.

With that in mind, I screened for companies where at least one insider made an open-market buy in the last 30 days. These five computer equipment stocks made the list:

Security

Net Number of Buys

No. of Shares Bought

Total Value

Market Cap
(in millions)

Amphenol (NYS: APH)

2

117,300

$5,080,000

$7,237

Infinera (NAS: INFN)

2

203,339

$1,360,000

$652

Harmonic (NAS: HLIT)

2

30,000

$167,000

$560

Methode Electronics (NYS: MEI)

15

39,295

$49,000

$335

KEMET (NYS: KEM)

1

300

$4,000

$422

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, as of Aug. 10, 2011.

When it comes to the number and total value of insider open-market buys, more can be better; I've sorted this table accordingly. Insiders at Amphenol made two open-market purchases worth more than a whopping $5 million, while an insider buy at KEMET was worth a mere $4,000. Both are bullish signs, but the Amphenol purchase looks more promising.

Methode Electronics is the only repeat from when I ran the screen previously. One stock that made the list last month but not this month is Lexmark (NYS: LXK) , which popped 21% in intraday trading a couple of weeks later as investors piled in due to better-than-expected quarterly results.

Foolish takeaway
Insider buying signals that someone who should be in the know is betting that the stock will rise. You can use this list of recent insider purchases as a starting point for further research -- or a good reason to make a contrarian play.

Are these insiders right? To help you find out, the Motley Fool recently introduced a free My Watchlist feature. You can get up-to-date news and analysis by adding companies to your Watchlist now:

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorCindy Johnsondoes not currently own shares of any stock in this story. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Infinera.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Infinera. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement