This tech CEO bought $10 million of his own stock for the first time since 2017

Published Fri, Mar 3 202311:02 AM EST

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson bought $10 million worth of his company's stock last week, putting him at the top of the list for insider buying, according to VerityData and securities filings. The buy was Lawson's first since May 2017, according to VerityData. Lawson's purchase coincided with a quarter-million dollar buy from director Donna Dubinsky. Twilio also announced a $1 billion buyback plan on Feb. 15. Twilio, like many other tech stocks, deflated in 2022, and the stock is down about 80% since mid-October 2021. However, the shares have started to rebound in 2023, with the stock rising 46% year to date. TWLO YTD mountain Twilio has rallied to start 2023. Lawson's purchase could lead to more interest from professional investors, many of whom track insider buying as a signal of a company's quality. If an executive or board member is buying additional shares outside of their compensation, the theory goes, then they are likely to be confident in the outlook for the business and believe the stock is undervalued. Here are the top five insider purchases of the week, according to VerityData and securities filings. 1. A $10 million buy from Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson on Feb. 24. 2. A nearly $2 million buy from Impinj chairman Steve Sanghi on Feb. 23. 3. A nearly $1 million buy from Waters Corp director Mark Vergnano on Feb. 28. 4. A roughly $386,000 buy from Charles River Labs director Richard Wallman on Feb. 23. 5. A roughly $269,000 buy from Entergy chief transformation officer Anastasia Minor on Feb. 27. The second and third biggest buys for the week come from directors at Impinj, a maker of RFID devices, and Charles River Labs, a contract research organization. Both of those directors are former CEOs, according to VerityData. Impinj's Steve Sanghi formerly ran Microchip Technology , and Waters' Mark Vergnano was previously the CEO of Chemours . On the smaller side, Charles Rivers Labs director Richard Wallman made his second insider buy in three months. Entergy's Anastasia Minor bought more than a quarter-million dollars of the utility company's stock after taking on a new role as chief transformation officer, though other Entergy insiders have been selling recently.