The buying trends of company insiders like members of the board and upper management are of high interest to market analysts – when company insiders personally buy stock in their company, it’s a big vote of confidence in the company’s outlook.
With that in mind, we ran a screen on the biotech industry for stocks that have seen significant net insider buying over the last six months.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
We also created a price-weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.
These insiders appear to believe in their companies’ success – do you? Use this list as a starting-off point for your own analysis.
List sorted by net insider purchases as a percent of share float.
1. Complete Genomics, Inc. (GNOM): Develops and commercializes a DNA sequencing platform for human genome sequencing and analysis. Market cap of $172.29M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 1.65M, which is 16.16% of the company's 10.21M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 6.39% (equivalent to 5.43 days of average volume).
2. Theravance Inc. (THRX): Engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule medicines for various therapeutic areas, including respiratory disease, bacterial infections, and central nervous system (CNS)/pain. Market cap of $1.83B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 5.19M, which is 12.25% of the company's 42.35M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 12.2% (equivalent to 16.54 days of average volume). The stock has gained 5.94% over the last year.
3. ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (ZIOP): Focuses on the development and commercialization of in-licensed cancer drugs in North America. Market cap of $334.48M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 4.34M, which is 7.57% of the company's 57.30M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 12.93% (equivalent to 13.06 days of average volume). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 9.89% over the last week.
4. Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. (THLD): Engages in the discovery and development of drugs targeting the microenvironment of solid tumors for patients living with cancer. Market cap of $76.04M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 1.97M, which is 7.07% of the company's 27.81M share float. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 6.06% over the last week. The stock has had a good month, gaining 15.67%.
5. Repros Therapeutics Inc. (RPRX): Biotechnology Industry. Market cap of $54.21M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 426.70K, which is 5.38% of the company's 7.93M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 5.79% (equivalent to 10.8 days of average volume). The stock has had a good month, gaining 10.55%.
6. MannKind Corp. (MNKD): Focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic products for diabetes and cancer. Market cap of $406.01M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 3.48M, which is 4.39% of the company's 79.31M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 30.32% (equivalent to 23.77 days of average volume). The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 16.22%.
7. Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN): Focuses on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases in the United States. Market cap of $2.56B. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 1.48M, which is 1.30% of the company's 113.13M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 22.31% (equivalent to 10.41 days of average volume). The stock has had a couple of great days, gaining 5.69% over the last week.
8. PharmAthene, Inc. (PIP): Engages in the development and commercialization of medical countermeasures against biological and chemical weapons in the United States. Market cap of $77.17M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 430.0K, which is 1.25% of the company's 34.38M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 8.79% (equivalent to 6.79 days of average volume). The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading 6.39% below its SMA20, 21.46% below its SMA50, and 44.6% below its SMA200. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 9.09% over the last week.
9. Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT): Engages in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of severe metabolic and psychiatric disorders. Market cap of $267.76M. Net insider shares purchased over the last six months at 556.90K, which is 1.10% of the company's 50.48M share float. The stock has lost 9.92% over the last year.
*Insider data sourced from Yahoo! Finance, all other data sourced from Finviz.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
