Top 4 Insider Buys of Last Week

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Jun 10, 2013
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The following companies represent the most notable insider buys of the past week. In order to be considered for this list, the stock had to:

· Be in at least one guru’s portfolio,

· Have at least two insiders buying over 1,000 shares each.

· Have at least one transaction cost over $100,000.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN)

In the past week, two directors made significant buys into Achillion Pharmaceuticals.

Director Jason Fisherman bought 10,000 shares at an average price of $7.87 per share. This transaction cost Fisherman a total of $78,700. Since his buy the price per share has increased approximately 4.32%.

Director Dennis Liotta bought 20,000 shares this past week at an average price of $7.91 per share. This buy cost the director a total of $158,200. Liotta now owns at least 85,000 shares of company stock. Since his buy the price per share has increased approximately 3.79%.

These buys mark the first insider buys for Achillion since June 2012.



Achillion is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments for infectious diseases. Within the anti-infective market, it is currently concentrating on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections.

Recent happenings in Achillion:

The company announced at the end of May that their long-time President and CEO Michael Kishbauch had decided to retire from the company after nine years of services. Kishbauch has been replaced by Milind Deshpande; the company saw a slight drop in share prices as a result of this announcement.

The drop in prices was ultimately short-lived as the stock price for Achillion has surged since its presentation at the 38th Annual Deutsche Bank Health Care Conference where the company revealed its new drug, ACH-3422, which is designed to combat hepatitis C. The company expects to unveil the preliminary version of the drug in 2014 and begin human testing by the end of 2014.

Financials:

The financials on Achillion note that the company’s revenue has been in decline for the past three years.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of $800.4 million; its shares were traded at around $8.21 with a P/B ratio of 8.9.

Paul Tudor Jones is currently the only guru that holds stake in Achillion. As of March 31, Jones held 23,217 shares representing 0.03% of his total assets managed. The graph below shows Jones’ holding history of Achillion.



WESCO International (WCC)

During the past week WESCO International Vice President and CFO made a significant buy into the company. Kenneth Parks bought 2,700 shares of company stock at an average price of $73.39 per share. This cost the CFO a total of $198,153. Since his buy, the price per share has decreased approximately -1.8%.



The CFO made this buy as the price of WESCO stock is at a 10-year high.

WESCO International is a provider of electrical, industrial and communications maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) products, construction materials, and advanced supply chain management and logistics services. Its product categories include general and industrial supplies; wire, cable and conduit communications products; power distribution equipment; lighting and controls and control, automation and motors.

Financials:

WESCO International has a market cap of $3.46 billion; its shares were traded at around $72.07 with a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a P/S ratio of 0.50. WESCO had an annual average earnings growth of 8.6% over the past 10 years.

The analysis on the company reports:

· The company’s operating margin has been in decline for the past five years. The average rate of decline per year is 3.9%.

· The P/S ratio is close to a five-year high of 0.59.

· The price is close to a 10-year high of $79.85.

According to the Peter Lynch Valuation Chart the stock appears to be fully valued:

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There are currently nine gurus that hold stake in WESCO International. Click here to see the holding history of the gurus.

Synta Pharmaceuticals (SNTA)

In the past week there have been four insiders making large buys into Synta Pharmaceuticals.

Director and 10% Owner Bruce Kovner made the largest buy of the week, adding 2,000,000 shares to his holdings. The shares traded for $4.64 each for a total transaction amount of $9,280,000. Kovner now owns over 22 million shares of Synta.

President and CEO Safi Bahcall added 10,000 shares at $4.04 per share. This cost Bahcall a total of $40,400. The CEO now owns around 2.5 million shares of Synta. Since his buy, the price per share has increased 12.13%.

Director Robert Wilson also added 10,000 shares; his shares traded at $5 per share. This cost the director an even $50,000. Wilson now owns approximately 700,000 shares of Synta. Since his most recent buy, the price per share has dropped -9.4%.

Lastly, Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer Vojo Vukovic added 10,000 shares for an average price of $4.58. This buy cost the vice president a total of $45.800. Vukovic now owns over 35,000 shares. Since his buy, the price per share has dropped around 1.09%.



These four buys come as the price dropped to a 52-week low.

Synta Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing small molecule drugs to extend and enhance the lives of patients with severe medical conditions, including cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Recent Happenings at Synta Pharmaceuticals:

The company saw a sharp decline in share prices as the company’s experimental lung cancer drug showed less benefit than anticipated. The company fell 34% on June 3, the largest single-day drop since February 2009.

The patients given the company’s ganetespib treatment along with docetaxel, a standard chemotherapy for lung cancer, had a 32% increase in survival compared to those given docetaxel only, Synta reported. George Zavoico, an analyst with MLV & Co. in New York said, “The shorter survival result was considered a disappointment by investors, leading to today’s [June 3] sell-off.”

Financials:

The financials on the company report that its revenue has been in decline for the past three years.

Synta Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of $298.8 million; its shares were traded at around $4.53 with a P/S ratio of 37.80 and a P/B ratio of 2.8.

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Jim Simons, Steven Cohen and Louis Moore Bacon all maintain holdings in Synta Pharmaceuticals. Click here to see their holding histories.

Calamos Asset Management (CLMS)

Calamos Asset reported seven insider buys coming from six different insiders this past week. These insiders consist of: Director John Calamos, President and COO James Boyne, SVP and CFO Nimish Bhatt, Director Richard Gilbert, Director Bradford Bulkley and Director Nick Calamos.

These insiders bought a combined total of 77,980 shares in the price range of $10.57 to $10.73.



Calamos Investments is a diversified global investment firm offering investment strategies including equity, fixed income, convertible and alternative investments. The firm offers strategies through separately managed portfolios, mutual funds, closed-end funds, private funds and UCITS funds. Clients include major corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations and individuals.

Recent Happenings at Calamos:

The company recently announced the launch of Calamos Long/Short Fund (A Shares: CALSX; C Shares: CCLSX; I Shares: CILSX; R Shares: CRLSX) as of June 2. The Calamos Long/Short Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective of long-term capital appreciation primarily by taking long and short positions in equity securities of large and mid-cap U.S. companies.

Financials:

Calamos Asset Management has a market cap of $220.7 million; its shares were traded at $10.82 with a P/E ratio of 15.70 and a P/S ratio of 0.70. The dividend yield of Calamos is 4.4%. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 31.4% over the past five years.

The analysis on Calamos reports:

· The operating margin has been consistently expanding.

· The company has enough cash to cover all of its debt.

· The dividend yield is close to a three-year high

· The P/B ratio is close to a three- year low of 0.99.

· The revenue has been in decline over the past year.

The company’s historical dividend yield:

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The Peter Lynch Valuation of the company shows that the company appears to be fully valued:

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Jim Simons and Mario Gabelli currently hold stake in Calamos. View their holding histories here.

You can view all insider transactions here. Also check out CEO/CFO insider buys and sells here.