Notable Insider Buys: AbbVie, Bristol-Myers

• Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors.
• Insiders were buying shares last week in the wake of earnings reports.
• Two big drugmakers saw sizable insider purchases in the past week.

Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10% owners really only buy shares of a company for one reason — they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly with markets near all-time highs.

Below is a look at a few notable insider purchases reported in the past week.

AbbVie

Last week, an AbbVie Inc ABBV 0.71% director and an executive acquired 95,000 shares altogether of this pharmaceutical company. At prices ranging from $65.30 to $67.32 per share, those transactions totaled more than $6.30 million. Note also that more than 49,000 shares were purchased by insiders in the previous week.

AbbVie recently posted better than expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year guidance. The shares have pulled back since, more than the broader markets, and ended the past week trading at $65.35. The analysts’ consensus target is $86.00, though the stock has traded as high as $100.23 in the past 52 weeks.

Bristol-Myers

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. BMY 1.73% also saw a director step up to the buy window. At an average price of $44.72 apiece, the 11,000 shares reportedly acquired last week totaled nearly $492,000. Note that another director bought 5,000 shares back in May, but at a price of more than $47 apiece.

This pharma giant also posted better than expected earnings and raised its fiscal year guidance. Shares ended the past week at $45.99, above the above-mentioned purchase price range. Note that the shares have traded as high as $63.69 in the past 52 weeks, though the analysts’ consensus price target is just $54.50.

https://www.benzinga.com/news/19/08/14197186/notable-insider-buys-abbvie-bristol-myers-and-more