Insider buying: Two CEOs make first purchases of their own stock, including a $2.5 million buy

Published Fri, Mar 18 20228:00 AM EDT

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

A busy week of stock buying by corporate insiders saw two CEOs make their first-ever purchases of their companies' shares, according to data compiled by InsiderScore.com/Verity Group. Coty CEO Sue Nabi and AvidXchange CEO Michael Praeger both made their first purchases of company stock since taking the helm over the past week. Nabi, who bought just over $2.5 million in stock, also has $30 million in restricted shares as part of her compensation, according to InsiderScore.com/Verity Group. Meanwhile, Praeger now owns more than 8.7 million shares of AvidXChange directly and an additional 5.3 million shares indirectly, according to a securities filing. Here is the full list of companies with the five biggest recent purchases from single insiders, courtesy of InsiderScore.com/Verity Group. 5. Ball Corp . - $601,000 4. AvidXchange Holdings - $693,000 3. Ambarella - $1.01 million 2. U.S. Foods - $1.02 million 1. Coty - $2.52 million In addition to those large purchases, some of the stocks on the list also had additional insider buying last week. A director and the chief transformation officer combined to make about $357,000 in purchases at Coty. Meanwhile, at U.S. Foods, the million-dollar buy from director Robert Dutkowski was joined by more than $700,000 in purchases from two other directors. The food distributor has been engaged in a proxy fight with activist fund Sachem Head Capital Management. Another notable move came at chipmaker Ambarella, where the $1 million buy from director Andrew Verhalen is the first-ever insider buy at the company, which went public in 2012, according to InsiderScore.com/Verity Group. Insider buying is viewed by many professional investors as a positive sign about company quality. Significant purchases above and beyond the shares awarded as part of compensation can be seen as a sign that management believes the stock is underpriced. "Insider Buying" is a weekly segment on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange," airing Friday mornings. Watch the full segment above.

Kylie Cosmetics are displayed at Ulta beauty on November 18, 2019 in New York City. Kylie Cosmetics has sold a controlling stake to Coty Inc for a reported $600 Million. Coty Inc plans to buy 51% and the controlling share of Kylie Cosmetics, valuing it at $1.2 billion. Kylie Jenner will remain the public face of the brand.

David Dee Delgado | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A busy week of stock buying by corporate insiders saw two CEOs make their first-ever purchases of their companies' shares, according to data compiled by InsiderScore.com/Verity Group.