Benzinga | Aug 29, 2020 03:34PM EDT

Notable Insider Buys Last Week: Avis Budget, Axis Capital And More

* Insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors during periods of uncertainty.

* A number of executives and other insiders returned to the buy window last week.

* A beneficial investor added to its stake after an initial public offering.

Conventional wisdom says that insiders and 10% owners really only buy shares of a company for one reason -- they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly during periods of uncertainty.

Insiders continued to add shares despite overall market volatility and economic uncertainty. Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases reported in the past week.

A director at Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) returned last week to add further to his stake. The more than 525,100 shares of this insurer indirectly scooped up, at prices ranging from $44.75 to $45.75, totaled almost $23.95 million. This director has been frequently buying shares since mid-June.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) saw a 10% owner add to its stake again. The almost 340,900 additional shares were indirectly acquired for $33.26 to $33.78 each. That totaled more than $11.43 million. This same beneficial owner bought more than $12.75 million worth of the stock in the prior week.

Inhibrx Inc (NASDAQ:INBX) saw a 10% owner acquire shares in the wake of the recent initial public offering. At prices ranging from $18.83 to $19.44 apiece, the more than 311,600 shares of this clinical-stage biotechnology company indirectly acquired totaled almost $5.96 million.

The chief executive officer at Live Oak Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:LOB), James Mahan III, bought via trust almost 91,600 shares of this North Carolina-based bank at $19.95 to $20.90 apiece. That totaled more than $1.86 million. He also purchased over 141,700 shares in the previous week.

A Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (NYSE:KW) director and CEO William McMorrow both stepped up to the buy window last week. Those 90,000 shares of this Beverly Hills-based real estate investment trust were priced at $14.02 to $14.49 each. That totaled over $1.27 million altogether. Note that McMorrow's acquisition was via trust.

See also: Nikola CEO Says He's Giving Away $233M Worth Of Personal Shares To Employees

The Golub Capital BDC Inc (NASDAQ:GBDC) board chair, Lawrence Golub, and CEO David Golub together indirectly picked up over 60,900 shares of this business development company last week. At prices ranging from $12.94 to $12.97 per share, that came to more than $789,100. They began buying shares in mid-August.

Note that some smaller amount of insider buying at Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (NYSE:ADM), Elanco Animal Health Inc (NYSE:ELAN), Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was reported last week as well.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.

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