Tracking the moves of insiders can often lead you to small, unknown companies that have a great deal of promise. On the daily list of buys, you only rarely come across major insider buying involving large companies. But in the past few weeks and months, there’s been impressive clusters of buying among companies in the S&P 500. Three of them caught my eye. 1. Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC ) President and CEO James Bennett just plunked down more than $2 million to buy 100,000 shares. This wasn’t just the conversion of stock options that you often find on insider… Read More
Tracking the moves of insiders can often lead you to small, unknown companies that have a great deal of promise. On the daily list of buys, you only rarely come across major insider buying involving large companies. But in the past few weeks and months, there’s been impressive clusters of buying among companies in the S&P 500. Three of them caught my eye. 1. Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC ) President and CEO James Bennett just plunked down more than $2 million to buy 100,000 shares. This wasn’t just the conversion of stock options that you often find on insider buying lists, but an actual purchase with real money. The move came after Bennett needed to rein in profit expectations amid a companywide restructuring. Make no mistake, software security vendor Symantec was in need of a shake-up. The company had seen robust growth in the past decade, as sales shot up from $2.6 billion in fiscal 2005 to $6.2 billion by 2009. However, sales in the current fiscal year are expected to be only 10% higher, equating to a compound growth rate of less than 2%. In the current quarter (which ends in December), sales are expected to fall 9% from a… Read More