Weekly Update: Insiders Were Big Buyers This Holiday Season
Welcome back to another Insider Edge Weekly Update.
Each and every Tuesday, we will be providing an update on the stocks that are being bought and owned by company insiders that are set up for big gains over the coming days and weeks.
The past several days have been largely good to very good for stocks.
The S&P 500 Index is up by 2.94% over the trailing week, bringing a Santa Claus rally to the market as we head into the close of this year.
Even with higher stock prices over the trailing week and even during the holiday trading days, company insiders added to their own stock holdings, with 89 filed buys reported to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) amounting to millions of dollars of stock buys.
And the performance of the Nasdaq US Insider Sentiment Index over the trailing five trading days is positive in price.
Not just positive… but downright good with a gain of 4.04% for the trailing last five days alone.
This shows that by following company insider buy trades, there is money to be made.
And that continues to be the case for the stocks currently in play for Insider Edge, including Evergy, Inc. (EVRG), Victory Capital Holdings Inc. (VCTR) and Asana Inc. (ASAN).
As we wrap up 2021 and get ready for 2022, I’m continuing to analyze additional stocks with company insiders taking advantage of great company insider buys to buy more shares, setting up new trades for us at Insider Edge.
Now, if you ever wonder how I track down company insider buys and the stocks to buy, watch my on-demand instructional video session on the Insider Edge website right here.
Insider Round-Up
Here is the current collection of buys for Insider Edge. For the full rundown on these and the rest of the trades, check out our Write-Ups here and our Trade Alerts Tracker here.
Asana Inc.
Asana Inc. (ASAN) is a leading software company with a cutting-edge work management platform for collaborative work and sharing projects.
Asana helps plan marketing campaigns, streamlines processes, manages sales and even provides project management and workflow solutions.
The company founder and CEO is no slouch. At age 27, Dustin Moskovitz was reported to be the youngest self-made billionaire in history by Forbes.
He dropped out of Harvard in 2004 to co-found Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg. But in 2008, he left to start Asana.
In total, CEO Dustin Moskovitz has invested $232,655,300 in ASAN stock in the last 30 days.
That’s almost a quarter of a billion dollars. He went on a similar buying spree back in June.
On the fundamental side, Asana is showing tremendous growth. While the company is not yet profitable, sales increased by 57%, 61%, 72% and 70% in each of the last four quarters, respectively.
Yet, as of today, the stock is down by 47% off the highs it made last month. But the price is up by 19.74% from last Monday through today, so this could be the beginning of a big recovery move.
A return to previous highs would deliver a double for anyone buying today.
The trade was initiated at $76.97, and with the current price at $74.63, we have a minor loss so far amounting to 3.04%.
Per the Trade Tracker, ASAN is a buy with an end-of-day closing stop at $61.00.
Victory Capital Holdings, Inc.
Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. (VCTR) is an investment management firm based in San Antonio, Texas. The company offers more than 60 mutual funds across various asset classes, representing $162 billion in assets under management.
After a decade-long bull market, asset managers are raking in record profits. VCTR stock is up 49.33% year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 index by a nice margin.
As we know, insiders have an impeccable track record of buying lows before large moves higher. But the Victory Capital insiders are seasoned investment professionals, which could prove them to be even better market timers.
Three insiders just made large buys of VCTR stock. The Chairman and CEO, President/CFO and a board member recently invested a combined $1.77 million. These are the first purchases by anyone at the company in over a year.
The last time insiders at Victory bought the stock was right after the 2020 COVID lows. They are currently up between 120% and 151%. Additionally, these trades are of even larger size than the well-timed purchases made last Summer.
Chief Executive Officer David Brown is buying for the first time since 2018. Director Richard DeMartini and CFO Michael Policarpo are both first-time buyers.
Some weeks ago, VCTR stock took a dive following the announcement of a secondary stock offering. Secondary offerings dilute current shareholders, so these are sometimes viewed negatively by the market.
The offering raised $136 million, which combined with a $505 million term loan will be used to fund its acquisition of WestEnd Advisors.
Regardless of the market’s reaction to these developments, insiders are clearly bullish on Victory Capital’s future. They are using the opportunity to buy the dip and take a position at today’s discounted prices.
The trade was initiated at $34.54, and with the current price at $37.05, we have a gain so far amounting to 7.27%.
Per the Trade Tracker, VCTR is a buy with an end-of-day closing stop at $31.00.
Evergy, Inc.
Evergy, Inc. (EVRG) is the Kansas City, Missouri-based power utility that has been increasing its green and renewable energy portfolio, particularly with wind turbines that capitalize on midwestern wind flows for more power.
Recently, several top insiders began buying large chunks of the stock in their personal accounts. Combined, they have invested more than $12 million in the stock.
And as we discussed in last week’s update, one of the company’s board members filed reports of four separate buys this month alone.
The CEO and CFO seem to buy in tandem. They are both buying shares for only the second time. Their first purchases came this March when they bought the stock right off its low before a 30% advance higher.
Director John Wilder started buying a month later, and he has made four additional buys over the last few weeks.
EVRG stock does not see routine insider buying, making the recent cluster buy even more significant. I suggest following the lead of those on the inside and taking a position in Evergy.
The trade was initiated at $63.56, and with the current price at $68.19, we have a gain so far from the trade amounting to 7.28%.
Per the Trade Tracker, EVRG remains a buy with an end-of-day closing stop at $57.00.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back in touch next Tuesday with another Weekly Update.
Best wishes for your trading,
Ross Givens
Editor, Insider Edge
