Insider Buying Week 04-04-25 Provides No Hope for Bulls

As measured by the S&P 500, the market declined by 9.1% last week, its worst performance since the Covid crash in March 2020. And like Covid, it felt as if we were at the beginning of something ominous, unknown, and even deadly. Insider buying, which normally boosts markets confidence, was conspicuously absent due to the quarterly blackout that keeps most insiders sidelined 30 days prior to the end of their quarterly reporting period and until after they report earnings. Most insiders will not be involved in insider buying during the next two to three weeks. No help coming from them.

Every bear market for which we have insider trading records has only concluded with a surge of insider buying. We have not observed anything like that yet.

If you are a QUALIFIED INVESTOR and are interested in learning how you can be part of the Insiders Fund, schedule some time with me here.

Name: Oscar Munoz
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-03-2025 Shares Bought: 3,882 shares an Average Price Paid of $257.28 for Cost: $998,773

Company: Salesforce Inc. (CRM):

Salesforce, Inc., founded in 1999, is a global leader in customer relationship management (CRM) technology, focused on helping businesses build stronger connections with their customers. The company empowers organizations of all sizes and industries to harness the power of data, artificial intelligence, and trust to enhance customer engagement. Its AI-powered Customer 360 platform integrates sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT operations, providing a unified view of each customer by consolidating data across various systems, applications, and devices. This single source of truth drives smarter, more personalized, and automated customer experiences, improving responsiveness, productivity, and overall business efficiency.

Oscar Munoz has served as a Director of Salesforce, Inc. since January 2022, following his tenure on the company’s global advisory board from December 2020 to December 2021. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Holdings, Inc., leading the aviation company from September 2015 to May 2020. Mr. Munoz also served as Executive Chairman of the Board at United for five years. In addition to his role at Salesforce, he currently sits on the boards of CBRE Group, Inc., Univision Holdings, Inc., and Archer Aviation, Inc., and is a trustee for Fidelity’s Equity & High Income Fund. Mr. Munoz holds a B.A. from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Opinion :Definitely encouraging that United Airlines executive Munoz stepped up an bought a million worth of CRM. He probably wishes he waited until Friday to do it but then again he may be back for more. Airlines have a real time pulse check on the economy. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say. If you’re going to start buying into the rout, this is as good as a start as any. One word of caution, though, this market can god and likely will go substantially lower so buy only small amounts with the idea you will dollar cost average on the way down. This is very hard mentally to do.

Name: Toni Townes-Whitley
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 03-28-2025 Shares Bought: 2,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $111.67 for Cost: $223,332

Company: Science Applications International Corp (SAIC):

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is a leading provider of technical, engineering, and enterprise IT services, primarily serving the U.S. government. The company specializes in executing large-scale, complex projects, delivering high-end, innovative technological solutions to enhance and secure digital environments. SAIC focuses on enterprise and mission success by designing, developing, modernizing, integrating, and maintaining critical systems. Its comprehensive enterprise IT offerings address a wide range of IT infrastructure needs. With a 50-year legacy, SAIC has built a reputation as a trusted partner in delivering mission-critical solutions.

Toni Townes-Whitley has been the CEO of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) since October 2023. Before joining SAIC, she served as President of Microsoft’s U.S. Regulated businesses, overseeing public and regulated commercial sectors. Her prior leadership roles include President of CGI Federal and executive positions at Unisys Corporation. Ms. Townes-Whitley earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy and economics from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She also holds executive education certifications from Wharton Executive Education, New York University, and the Performance Management Institute.

Opinion: SAIC will likely get DOGED some business but the Government doesn’t actually run much, it outsources many programs so I expect things to settle down. Still a small buy.

Name: Douglas W. William III
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-02-2025 Shares Bought: 7,500 shares an Average Price Paid of $69.44 for Cost: $520,822

Company: Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR):

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates retail discount stores across the United States and Canada under the Dollar Tree and Dollar Tree Canada brand names. The company offers a wide range of products, including consumable merchandise such as household paper and cleaning supplies, food, candy, health and personal care items, and frozen and refrigerated foods. It also sells a variety of general merchandise like toys, housewares, gifts, stationery, party supplies, greeting cards, soft goods, and arts and crafts materials. Additionally, Dollar Tree provides seasonal products for holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day. Founded in 1986, the company is headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Opinion: Dollar stores are supposed to be recession plays. People pinch pennies or should I say dollars. This time around though retail could be especially damaged by reciprocal tariffs.

Name: Joshua G. James
Position: Founder and CEO, 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 04-04-2025 Shares Bought: 77,300 shares an Average Price Paid of $6.50 for Cost: $502,172

Name: Daniel David III
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-04-2025 Shares Bought: 120,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $6.44 for Cost: $772,452

Company: Domo Inc. (DOMO):

Domo Inc. believes that people and data are an organization’s most valuable assets in the cloud era. Its cloud-native platform delivers modern AI and data solutions that enable organizations to execute data-driven processes in real-time—within minutes or seconds, rather than over weeks or months. Designed to transform business management across every department—from marketing and operations to HR, finance, IT, product development, and supply chain—the Domo platform empowers users to build and deploy AI-powered data products that drive measurable business value. It seamlessly collects, stores, prepares, organizes, analyzes, visualizes, automates, and shares data across an entire organization.

Daniel has served on the Board of Directors since April 2019. He is the founder and fund manager of Twenty Acre Capital, a role he has held since the firm’s inception in April 2019. Prior to that, Mr. Daniel was a Managing Director and senior investor at BlackRock from January 2011 to April 2019, where he led investments across a wide range of technology companies. Earlier in his career, he worked as a special situations analyst and global hedge fund sales director at UBS. Mr. Daniel holds a B.S. in Finance and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA charterholder.

Domo Inc. was founded in 2010 by Joshua G. James, who served as the company’s CEO until 2022. He returned to the role in March 2023 and was also appointed as a director. Prior to founding Domo, Mr. James co-founded Omniture in 1996 and led the company as CEO until its acquisition by Adobe in 2009. Known for his influence in the tech and entrepreneurial sectors, Mr. James has advised Utah Governors Jon Huntsman, Gary Herbert, and Spencer Cox on matters related to innovation and business. He studied entrepreneurship at Brigham Young University for three and a half years before leaving to pursue his business ventures.

Opinion: Microsoft AI not tariffs have been the existential threat to Domo. Perhaps its safe to come out again.

Name: Joel D. Anderson
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Transaction Date: 03-28-2025 Shares Bought: 1,586,088 shares an Average Price Paid of $2.97 for Cost: $4,717,461

Company: Petco Health & Wellness Company Inc. (WOOF):

Petco Health & Wellness Company, Inc. is a health and wellness firm dedicated to enhancing the lives of pets, pet parents, and Petco partners across the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The company provides a range of services, including veterinary care, grooming, training, telehealth, Vital Care membership programs, pet health insurance, and veterinary services through Vetco mobile clinics. Petco also offers pet consumables, supplies, and services through its online platforms. The company sells products under its proprietary brands, including WholeHearted, Reddy, and Well & Good. Founded in 1965, Petco is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Joel D. Anderson became Petco’s CEO and a member of its Board of Directors in July 2024. In addition to leading Petco, he serves on the audit and compensation committees of the Sprouts Farmers Market Board of Directors. Joel is a strong advocate for fostering a healthy business culture and cultivating leadership at all levels of an organization. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in political science and speech communication from St. Olaf College.

Opinion: This was an unusual buy. The CEO bought stock after Petco announced earnings and had a big spike in price. Take a hard look at this one. People take care of their pets and this has been bottoming a long time.

Name: David A. Ramsay
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 03-31-2025 Shares Bought: 150,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $2.78 for Cost: $416,250

Company: Savara Inc (SVRA):

Savara Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in rare respiratory diseases. Its lead product candidate, Molgramostim, is an inhaled granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor designed to treat autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Currently in Phase 3 development, Molgramostim aims to address the unmet needs of patients with this rare lung disorder. Savara Inc. is headquartered in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Ramsay has been a member of Savara Inc.’s Board of Directors since April 2017. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Mast Therapeutics, Inc. and currently advises publicly traded and privately held biotechnology firms. Mr. Ramsay is also a Board member of Exuma Biotech, Inc. and formerly served on the Board of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company until its acquisition in 2022. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. with a dual major in Finance and Strategic Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Opinion: Biotechs are particularly hard with this sad state of HHS and RFK’s problematic leadership.

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If you are a QUALIFIED INVESTOR and are interested in learning how you can be part of the Insiders Fund, schedule some time with me here.

This blog is solely for educational purposes and the author’s own amusement. IT IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. Think of the blog as part of my personal investment journal that I am willing to share with the DIY investor. There are also many parts that I am not willing to share if I think it could influence trading action or be detrimental to the Fund’s partners. We could be long, short, or have no position at all in any of the stocks mentioned and express no written or implied obligation to disclose any of that.

The Insiders Fund and its blogs and posts are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the companies mentioned herein. All company names, logos, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The use of company logos is solely for descriptive and illustrative purposes under fair use. Any information provided is based on publicly available data and should not be considered financial, investment, or legal advice. Readers should conduct their own research or consult with a professional before making any investment decisions.

Insiders sell the stock for many reasons, but they generally buy for just one – to make money. You’ve always heard the best information is inside information. Everyone with any stock market experience pays close attention to what insiders are doing. After all, who knows a business better than the people running it? Officers, directors, and 10% owners are required to inform the public through a Form 4 Filing of any transaction, buy, sell, exercise, or any other within 48 hours of doing so. This info is available for free from the SEC’s Web site, Edgar, although we subscribe to SECForm4 as they provide a way to manage and make sense of the vast realms of data. I’ve tried a lot of vendors. SECForm4 is one of the smaller ones, but I like supporting Frank. He is not arrogant. He’s helpful and has great prices. He also trades on his own data, so I like people that eat what they kill.

The bar is different from selling because the natural state of management is to be a seller. This is because most companies provide significant amounts of management compensation packages as stock and options. Therefore, we analyze unusual patterns with selling, such as insiders selling 25 percent or more of their holdings or multiple insiders selling near 52-week lows. Another red flag is large planned sale programs that start without warning. Unfortunately, the public information disclosure requirements about these programs, referred to as Rule 10b5-1, are horrendously poor. Also, planned sales that pop up out of nowhere are basically sales and are seeking cover under this corporate welfare loophole. I also generally ignore 10 percent shareholders as they tend to be OPM (other people’s money) and perhaps not the smart money on which we are trying to read the tea leaves. I say generally because some 10% shareholders are great investors. Think Warren Buffett and others

Of course, insiders can also be wrong about their Company’s prospects. Don’t let anyone fool you into believing they never make mistakes. Do your own analysis. They can easily be wrong, and in many cases, maybe most cases, have no more idea what the future may hold than you or me. In short, you can lose money following them. We have, and we curse aloud; what were they thinking!

We like Fly on the Wall for keeping up with what events might be happening, analysts’ comments, and whatever else could be moving the stock. Dow Jones news service is an essential tool, but many services pick up their feed like they do Bloomberg. For quick financial analysis, it’s hard to beat Old School Value.

A big callout to my assistant Ambreen who sets up this conversation by listing the notable buys that I’ve identified as soon as practically possible. She probes the 10k for a reasonable description of the business. I’ve found that to be the most accurate and succinct place to find out what a business actually does. When I have time, over the weekend, I’ll add some preliminary analysis to the Opinion at the end. Sometimes I won’t update this for a couple of weeks or more. A good way to use this blog is as I do, it’s a reference point and filing cabinet for various stocks with notable insider buying. It’s one of many tools I use. I regularly live on Chat GPT and Microsoft Copilot now. I find the footnotes research very helpful in eliminating errors from AI hallucinations.

The Insiders Fund is for qualified investors and by Prospectus only. Nothing herein should be construed otherwise. THE INSIDERS FUND prefers to invest in companies at or near prices that management has been willing to invest significant amounts of their own money in, but we have no requirement to do so. We also invest in many companies in anticipation of future insider buying or with the expectation that there is none at all.