Insider buying: SoFi's CEO makes another big move, while others scooped up falling stocks

Published Fri, Dec 16 20229:36 AM EST

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

Several insiders of corporate America spent big on their own stock as part of their holiday shopping, often finding major discounts. CEO Anthony Noto of SoFi led the way this week, buying $5 million worth of shares over the course of several days, according to Verity and a securities filing. This move is in addition to the roughly $2.3 million worth of shares that Soto scooped up earlier this year. The fintech stock has struggled mightily this year, falling more than 70% to trade below $5 per share. Insider buying and selling is a metric tracked by many professional investors as one measure of a company's quality. The idea is that executives and board members who are more confident about the direction of their company will buy up more shares if they think the stock is undervalued. Here are the top five biggest buys of the past week, according to Verity. 1. SoFi Technologies: $5.00 million buy by Noto. 2. Public Storage $744,000 by CEO Joseph D. Russell Jr. on Dec. 12. 3. Varonis Systems : $500,000 by CFO Guy Melamed on Dec. 8. 4. VF Corp : $490,000 by board member Mark Samuel Hoplamazian on Dec. 9. 5. Illinois Tool Works : $308,000 by board member David Byron Smith Jr. on Dec. 9. Several of the buys on the list were notable for being new players in insider buying. Russell's purchase was his first since becoming an insider at Public Storage six years ago, and Hoplamazian's purchase of VF stock was his first in seven years on the board, according to Verity. VF Corp has seen a spate of buying recently, as another director and the CEO of the company have also made smaller purchases of stock this month. Public Storage has held up better than some other stocks on the list, falling about 20% this year. Meanwhile, VF Corp has fallen more than 60% in 2022. Meanwhile, Varonis Systems' Melamed latest purchase built on a $250,000 purchase last month. Melamed had previously been a seller, so whose recent moves represent a notable reversal, according to Verity. The board member's purchase at Illinois Tool Works is notable for being a buy into strength. The stock is up about 20% in the fourth quarter.