Every bear market since 2001 has only ended with a plethora of insider buying. I’m waiting, waiting, and waiting without any insider buying to speak of. There is not much selling either. This is a remarkably quiet period of time. I thought once this week of earnings was over, we would start to see some buyers come out of the woodworks. Nothing to speak of. A couple of directors from beaten down NSC stuck their toes in the water but other than that there is nothing to write about other than the VOID. No one is buying. Not many are even selling. It’s weird.
I’ve been tracking insiders for a long time, since 2001. This is the quietest period I’ve ever seen. I hesitate to speculate what that means but right now it only means one thing to me. Too uncertain to buy, not enough value yet, and too low to sell in mass.
Stay tuned, a market as volatile as this can present opportunities at any moment. Next week a full plate of earnings announcements will shed more light on the subject. Remember the news is paying attention to what insiders are saying but we are paying attention to what they are doing with their money, not just their mouth.
Follow us on Twitter for real-time commentary and insider buying alerts at https://twitter.com/theinsidersfund
If you are a QUALIFIED INVESTOR and are interested in learning how you can be part of the Insiders Fund, schedule some time with me here.
Name: Richard H. Anderson
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 24-10-2024 Shares Bought: 1,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $257.85 for Cost: $257,850
Name: Sameh Fahmy
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 24-10-2024 Shares Bought: 1,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $255.00 for Cost: $255,000
Company: Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC):
Norfolk Southern Corporation provides rail transportation services for raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods across the United States. Its transported commodities include agricultural, forest, and consumer products such as soybeans, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, timber, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods. The company also moves chemical products like sulfur, petroleum products, and chlorine, as well as transportation equipment and military supplies. Additionally, Norfolk Southern transports automotive products and coal. It supports the movement of international freight through various Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports and operates a large intermodal network.
Sameh Fahmy joined Norfolk Southern Corporation’s Board of Directors in May 2024. With over 30 years of experience in the railroad industry, he has held leadership roles at several major railroads. From 2019 to 2021, he served as Executive Vice President of Precision Scheduled Railroading at Kansas City Southern, where he led the development of operating procedures. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fahmy spent 23 years at Canadian National Railway Company, holding senior positions including Senior Vice President of Engineering, Mechanical, and Supply Management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Richard H. Anderson joined Norfolk Southern Corporation’s Board of Directors in May 2024. He brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the transportation sector, having served as CEO of Delta Air Lines from 2007 to 2016 and CEO of Amtrak from 2017 to 2020. Mr. Anderson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Houston and a Juris Doctorate from the South Texas College of Law.
Opinion: Two relatively small open market purchase from relatively new directors.
According to the company’s corporate governance guidelines:
-
Board Members: Each director is expected to own shares of Norfolk Southern common stock equal in value to at least five times the annual board retainer so that makes this even less consequential. Yes its probably a good time to buy beaten down rail roads especially down 13% from the directors last purchase date-but it will require patience as Trump trade policy could have major impact on logistics.
Name: Nicholas Hobbs
Position: EVP and COO
Transaction Date: 04-23-2025 Shares Bought: 3,038 shares an Average Price Paid of $131.58 for Cost: $399,746
Company: Hunt J B Transport Services Inc (JBHT):
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., founded in Arkansas on August 10, 1961, is a leading provider of surface transportation, logistics, and distribution services across North America. Publicly traded since 1983, the company delivers a wide range of transportation, brokerage, and delivery solutions throughout the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico through its wholly owned subsidiaries. J.B. Hunt transports full-truckload containerized freight using company-owned equipment, corporate drivers, independent contractors, and third-party carriers. It also maintains agreements with major North American rail carriers to transport freight via containers and trailers, while managing most pickup and delivery operations.
Nicholas Hobbs serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. He joined the company in 1984 as a management trainee and has held multiple leadership roles, including President of Dedicated Contract Services and Final Mile Services. In November 2024, he was appointed President of Highway and Final Mile Services, in addition to his COO responsibilities, overseeing the Integrated Capacity Solutions and Truckload business units. Mr. Hobbs holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Opinion:
Name: Samit Hirawat
Position: EVP,Chief Med.Offr.,Drug Dev.
Transaction Date: 04-25-2025 Shares Bought: 4,250 shares an Average Price Paid of $47.58 for Cost: $202,215
Company: Bristol Myers Squibb Co (BMY):
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company was incorporated in Delaware in August 1933 as a successor to a New York corporation established in 1887. The company was renamed Bristol-Myers Squibb Company following a merger in 1989. It operates within a single business segment focused on the global discovery, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. Its strategy integrates the scale and resources of a pharmaceutical company with the speed and innovation typical of the biotechnology sector. The company concentrates on developing transformational medicines for patients with serious diseases, particularly in oncology, hematology, neuroscience, and other therapeutic areas that offer potential for significant clinical impact and shareholder value.
Dr. Samit Hirawat serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Head of Development at Bristol Myers Squibb. He joined the company in 2019. In this role, he oversees early- and late-stage product development across all therapeutic areas, with an emphasis on accelerating asset progression from proof-of-concept to commercialization through advanced clinical trial design and operations. Dr. Hirawat earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from Sawai Man Singh Medical College in India and completed his internal medicine residency and medical oncology training at North Shore University Hospital in New York.
Opinion:
Name: John T. Thomas
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 4,200 shares an Average Price Paid of $17.84 for Cost: $74,928
Name: Ava Lias-Booker
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-29-2025 Shares Bought: 5,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $17.83 for Cost: $89,150
Name: Scott M. Brinker
Position: President and CEO
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 11,337 shares an Average Price Paid of $17.68 for Cost: $200,438
Name: Katherine M. Sandstrom
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 11,288 shares an Average Price Paid of $17.65 for Cost: $199,233
Name: Pamela Shelley-Kessler
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-29-2025 Shares Bought: 2,838 shares an Average Price Paid of $17.61 for Cost: $49,991
Company: Healthpeak Properties Inc. (DOC):
Healthpeak Properties, Inc., a Standard & Poor’s 500 business, owns, operates, and develops high-quality real estate in the United States with an emphasis on healthcare discovery and delivery. The firm was started in 1985. In 2023, it completed a corporate reform as an umbrella partnership REIT or UPREIT. The firm is a Maryland corporation that operates as a self-administered REIT. It is based in Denver, Colorado, and has corporate offices in California, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts, as well as property management offices across the country. The company owns a diverse portfolio of high-quality healthcare facilities in three asset classes: outpatient medical, lab, and continuing care retirement community real estate. It owns, operates, and develops outpatient medical facilities, hospitals, and lab buildings through its outpatient medical and lab segments. In the CCRC section, properties are managed using RIDEA structures.
John T. Thomas was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Trustee of Healthpeak Properties Inc. from 2013 until the company’s merger with Physicians Realty Trust, and he has been Vice Chair of the Board since March 2024. Mr. Thomas formerly worked as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Baylor Health Care System and in executive positions at Welltower Inc. and Cirrus Health before his time at Physicians Realty Trust. He graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School with a Juris Doctor and Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Science.
Ava E. Lias-Booker joined Healthpeak Properties Inc.’s Board of Directors in March 2024, when the company merged with Physicians Realty Trust, where she had been a trustee since 2022. She has more than 30 years of experience in complex commercial and civil litigation and presently leads the Baltimore litigation group at McGuireWoods LLP, where she has been a partner since 2004. She also serves on the visiting boards of Duke University’s School of Law and the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law. Ms. Lias-Booker received her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law.
Mr. Brinker joined the Board of Directors in October 2022 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since then. Mr. Brinker was the President and Chief Investment Officer from January 2019 to October 2022 and the Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer from March 2018 to December 2019. Before that, from July 2001 until January 2017, he worked in a variety of investment and portfolio management-related roles at Welltower Inc., a healthcare REIT, most recently as its Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Brinker graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business with a Master’s.
Ms. Sandstrom became Chair of the Board of Healthpeak Properties, Inc. in April 2023, having previously served as Vice Chair from April 2022 to April 2023. She was an Advisor from July 2018 to March 2019, and Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Heitman LLC’s Public Real Estate Securities division from 2013 to 2018. Since joining Heitman in 1996, Ms. Sandstrom has held several senior leadership positions in various aspects of the institutional real estate investment sector. She also served on the firm’s Global Management Committee, the Board of Managers, and the Allocation Committee. Ms. Sandstrom is a certified public accountant who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of West Florida.
Pamela J. Shelley-Kessler joined Healthpeak Properties Inc.’s Board of Directors in March 2024, following the company’s merger with Physicians Realty Trust, where she had previously served as an independent trustee since January 2018. She is also the Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of LTC Properties Inc., a position she acquired on December 31, 2024, following her tenure as the company’s Chief Financial Officer since 2010. Ms. Shelley-Kessler started her career as a certified public accountant at Ernst & Young and has since held leadership positions in several real estate and healthcare firms. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine.
Opinion:
Name: Jonathan M. Peacock
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 8,091 shares an Average Price Paid of $12.81 for Cost: $103,646
Name: Lan Kang
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 5,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $12.57 for Cost: $62,850
Name: Gregory L. Summe
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-28-2025 Shares Bought: 25,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $12.50 for Cost: $312,500
Name: Joseph R. Massaro
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-29-2025 Shares Bought: 8,100 shares an Average Price Paid of $12.30 for Cost: $99,630
Company: Avantor Inc. (AVTR):
Avantor, Inc. provides mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education, government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, and fluid handling tips. Founded in 1904, the company is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Peacock has served as Chairman since 2022 and has been a member of the Board since 2017. He is also a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee. Additionally, Mr. Peacock chairs the Board of Directors at UCB SA. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Amgen, Inc. from 2010 to 2014 and as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Novartis AG’s Pharmaceuticals Division from 2005 to 2010. Mr. Peacock holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and is a chartered accountant.
Ms. Kang has been on the Board since April 2021 and is currently a member of the Compensation & Human Resources Committee. She has served as President and CEO of Azkarra Therapeutics, an early-stage biotechnology company, since March 2025. Ms. Kang previously held several executive positions at Fosun International, a global consumer-focused corporation listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, including Executive Board Director, Head of the Fosun Insurance Group, and Chief Human Resources Officer of Fosun Group. She holds an MBA in healthcare administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in chemistry from Tulane University, and a bachelor’s degree in biological science and technology from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.
Mr. Summe has been a member of the Board since May 2020, where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and serves on the Compensation and Human Resources Committees. He is the Managing Partner at Glen Capital Partners, an investment fund. Mr. Summe also serves on the boards of State Street Corporation, NXP Semiconductors NV, and Wheels Up. He previously served as Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Global Buyouts at The Carlyle Group, as well as a Senior Advisor to Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. Mr. Summe holds an MBA with distinction from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky. He is a member of the Hall of Distinction at the University of Kentucky.
Mr. Massaro has been a member of the Board since 2021 and currently serves as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. He is Aptiv PLC’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Operations, a position he has held since September 2016. Previously, Mr. Massaro held several senior management positions at Aptiv, including Vice President and Corporate Controller. He also served as Chief Financial Officer at inVentiv Health and Managing Director at Liberty Lane. Mr. Massaro holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Accounting from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from Bentley University.
Opinion:
Follow us on Twitter for real-time commentary and insider buying alerts at https://twitter.com/theinsidersfund
If you are a QUALIFIED INVESTOR and are interested in learning how you can be part of the Insiders Fund, schedule some time with me here.
This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. IT IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor. There are also many parts that I am not willing to share if I think it could influence trading action or be detrimental to the Fund’s partners. We could be long, short, or have no position at all in any of the stocks mentioned and express no written or implied obligation to disclose any of that.
The Insiders Fund and its blogs and posts are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the companies mentioned herein. All company names, logos, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The use of company logos is solely for descriptive and illustrative purposes under fair use. Any information provided is based on publicly available data and should not be considered financial, investment, or legal advice. Readers should conduct their own research or consult with a professional before making any investment decisions.
Insiders sell the stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. You’ve always heard the best information is inside information. Everyone with any stock market experience pays close attention to what insiders are doing. After all, who knows a business better than the people running it? Officers, directors, and 10% owners are required to inform the public through a Form 4 Filing of any transaction, buy, sell, exercise, or any other within 48 hours of doing so. This info is available for free from the SEC’s Web site, Edgar, although we subscribe to SECForm4 as they provide a way to manage and make sense of the vast realms of data. I’ve tried a lot of vendors. SECForm4 is one of the smaller ones, but I like supporting Frank. He is not arrogant. He’s helpful and has great prices. He also trades on his own data, so I like people that eat what they kill.
The bar is different from selling because the natural state of management is to be a seller. This is because most companies provide significant amounts of management compensation packages as stock and options. Therefore, we analyze unusual patterns with selling, such as insiders selling 25 percent or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52-week lows. Another red flag is large planned sale programs that start without warning. Unfortunately, the public information disclosure requirements about these programs, referred to as Rule 10b5-1, are horrendously poor. Also, planned sales that pop up out of nowhere are basically sales and are seeking cover under this corporate welfare loophole. I also generally ignore 10 percent shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and perhaps not the smart money on which we are trying to read the tea leaves. I say generally because some 10% shareholders are great investors. Think Warren Buffett and others
Of course, insiders can also be wrong about their Company’s prospects. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing they never make mistakes. Do your own analysis. They can easily be wrong, and in many cases, maybe most cases, have no more idea what the future may hold than you or me. In short, you can lose money following them. We have, and we curse aloud; what were they thinking!
We like Fly on the Wall for keeping up with what events might be happening, analysts’ comments, and whatever else could be moving the stock. Dow Jones news service is an essential tool, but many services pick up their feed like they do Bloomberg. For quick financial analysis, it’s hard to beat Old School Value.
A big callout to my assistant Ambreen who sets up this conversation by listing the notable buys that I’ve identified as soon as practically possible. She probes the 10k for a reasonable description of the business. I’ve found that to be the most accurate and succinct place to find out what a business actually does. When I have time, over the weekend, I’ll add some preliminary analysis to the Opinion at the end. Sometimes I won’t update this for a couple of weeks or more. A good way to use this blog is as I do, it’s a reference point and filing cabinet for various stocks with notable insider buying. It’s one of many tools I use. I regularly live on Chat GPT and Microsoft Copilot now. I find the footnotes research very helpful in eliminating errors from AI hallucinations.
The Insiders Fund is for qualified investors and by Prospectus only. Nothing herein should be construed otherwise. THE INSIDERS FUND prefers to invest in companies at or near prices that management has been willing to invest significant amounts of their own money in, but we have no requirement to do so. We also invest in many companies in anticipation of future insider buying or with the expectation that there is none at all.
You can be an insider, too– by clicking here
Prosperous Trading,
