The market has wobbled this week, but some are betting on their company stocks to do well going forward. The S & P 500 is down 0.2% week to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite is on pace to end the week with a small gain. Stock purchases by corporate insiders are closely followed by fund managers as they can serve as a sign of underappreciated company quality. In essence, the executives buy stock not included in their compensation when they think Wall Street is overlooking their business’ value. At the same time, investors pay attention when fund managers make big purchases in shares that have been on a downswing. That’s the case with Akero Therapeutics, according to VerityData and securities filings. Akero’s stock has plummeted more than 60% over the past three months alone, but director Graham Walmsley purchased 100,000 shares for $1.69 million. AKRO 3M mountain Akero Therapeutics stock. Akero is a cardio-metabolic biotechnology firm that provides treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which currently doesn’t have any approved therapies. Here are the top five insider buys revealed in the first week of December, according to VerityData and securities filings. Akero Therapeutics: Walmsley bought 100,000 shares for $1.69 million. The stock is held by Logos GP, of which Walmsley serves as a managing member. First Busey: Director Stanley Bradshaw bought about 21,000 shares for $455,500, which was labeled “high IQ” by VerityData. HF Sinclair: Director Franklin Myers purchased 5,000 shares for $274,000. Ball Corporation: Company officer Ronald Lewis snagged 4,600 shares for $250,000. Hillenbrand: Director Helen Cornell bought 6,500 shares for $249,400. Akero is not the only company on the list that has seen its stock tick down in recent months. Shares of Hillenbrand have declined more than 10% in the past three months, while HF Sinclair has shed more than 13% during the same period.
