What a great time to be an insider. Every bear market since 2001 has only ended with a plethora, a tsunami of insider buying. Nothing like that has yet happened but this is where you will hear about it first, IF it happens.
Name: John B. Hess
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-15-2025 Shares Bought: 3,904 shares an Average Price Paid of $511.68 for Cost: $1,997,584
Company: Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS):
Goldman Sachs is a prominent global financial institution providing a broad spectrum of financial services to a diverse client base, including corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individual investors. The firm is committed to fostering long-term economic growth and expanding financial opportunities. Central to its mission is the One Goldman Sachs initiative, which aims to deliver a seamless, integrated experience for clients by unifying the firm’s extensive services and expertise across all business lines and product areas. This approach emphasizes accessibility, efficiency, and comprehensive support, reinforcing Goldman Sachs’ role as a trusted advisor in global finance.
John B. Hess joined the Board of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. as an independent director on June 24, 2024. He currently serves on the board’s Compensation, Governance, and Risk Committees. Mr. Hess has been the Chief Executive Officer of Hess Corporation since 1995 and has also served as Chairman and CEO of Hess Midstream LP since 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College (1975) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (1977).
Opinion: This looks like a large buy but when you start breaking it down upon proportionality and relevancy, it’s trivial.
John Hess, the CEO of Hess Corporation, was involved in a significant transaction when Chevron agreed to acquire Hess in an all-stock deal valued at $53 billion, or $171 per share, based on Chevron’s closing price on October 20, 2023.
The Hess family’s stake in the company, encompassing shares held by John Hess, family members, and associated trusts, totaled approximately 29.2 million shares. At the agreed-upon price of $171 per share, this stake would be valued at roughly $5 billion.
Subsequently, John Hess was appointed as an independent director on the board of Goldman Sachs, effective June 24, 2024 .
On April 15, 2025, he purchased 3,904 shares of Goldman Sachs common stock at prices ranging from $507.96 to $517.45 per share, amounting to a total investment of approximately $1.99 million
This investment represents approximately 0.04% of the $5 billion value of the Hess family’s stake in Goldman. Put another way this represents a $.04 tip on a $100 lunch.
Name: David S. Taylor
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-11-2025 Shares Bought: 10,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $39.20 for Cost: $391,974
Name: Greg Creed
Position: Director
Transaction Date: 04-10-2025 Shares Bought: 5,000 shares an Average Price Paid of $41.84 for Cost: $209,200
Company: Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL):
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a leading global airline that provides scheduled passenger and cargo transportation services across the United States and internationally. The company operates through two primary segments: airline and refinery. Delta’s extensive domestic network is anchored by major hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, with additional strategic positions in Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Internationally, Delta maintains a strong market presence with hubs and operations in cities such as Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, and Tokyo. The company facilitates ticket sales via various channels, including its website delta.com, the Fly Delta app, and through travel agencies. Beyond passenger services, Delta also offers aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul services. As of its most recent data, the company operates a fleet of over 1,292 aircraft. Founded in 1924, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has grown into one of the most recognized names in global aviation.
David S. Taylor has served on the Delta Air Lines Board of Directors since August 2019 and was appointed Chairman of the Board in June 2023. Prior to his role at Delta, Mr. Taylor had a distinguished career at Procter & Gamble, where he held the positions of Chairman, President, and CEO from 2015 to 2021, and later served as Executive Chairman until 2022. Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Duke University, and brings decades of leadership experience and strategic insight to Delta’s board.
Greg Creed joined Delta Air Lines, Inc. Board of Directors in April 2022. He is the founder of Creed UnCo, a consulting firm specializing in culture, leadership, brand development, and franchising. Previously, Mr. Creed served as the Chief Executive Officer of Yum! Brands, Inc. from January 2015 to December 2019. During his long tenure with the company, which began in 1994, he also held key leadership roles at Taco Bell, including CEO and Chief Concept Officer. In addition to his role at Delta, Mr. Creed currently serves on the boards of Whirlpool Corporation and Aramark Corporation. He holds a business degree from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
Opinion: International might be down, businesses might be uncertain, but air travel is no longer a luxury item. It’s an essential mode of transportation both domestically and internationally. There are really no competing options. The drop in jet fuel cost might more than compensate the occasional loss of business due to tariff uncertainty.
Name: David D. Smith
Position: Executive Chairman, 10% Owner
Transaction Date: 04-08-2025 Shares Bought: 185,145 shares an Average Price Paid of $13.40 for Cost: $2,481,355
Company: Sinclair Inc. (SBGI):
Sinclair Broadcast Group, LLC is a subsidiary of Sinclair, Inc., a Maryland-based company founded in 2022. The predecessor, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., was originally established in 1986 and transitioned to a limited liability company in 2023. Sinclair is a diversified media company with a significant national presence, primarily known for delivering high-quality programming through its broad portfolio of local television stations. In the past, the company also operated internet platforms and regional sports networks. Sinclair’s content offering includes third-party network programming, syndicated shows, and a robust lineup of original content, including local news, sports, and entertainment, produced both by the company and its affiliated networks.
David D. Smith has served as the Executive Chairman of Sinclair, Inc. since January 2017 and has been the Chairman of the Board since September 1990. He was previously the President and CEO of the company from 1988 to January 2017. Before his leadership at Sinclair, Smith founded Comark Communications, Inc., a company specializing in high-power UHF television transmitters, where he held executive and director roles until 1986. Beyond Sinclair, Smith is active in other ventures—he serves on the boards of MileOne Auto Group, Inc. and Keyser Investment Group, Inc., and is also a partner in Gerstell Development, LP. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Opinion: There are a number of reasons to like this name: trading at 3X P.E. with a secure 7% dividend yield is high on my list. I think local media’s decline against TikTok, Meta, YouTube and streaming has likely stabilized over the last 25 years. Chairman Smith must feel like this or perhaps there is something else up his sleeve.
Follow us on Twitter for real-time commentary and insider buying alerts at https://twitter.com/theinsidersfund
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.
You can be an insider, too– by clicking here
Prosperous Trading,
