Apple Execs Began Buying AAPL Stock In July

I n a Reutersi piece about general insider buying at major corporations, it was mentioned that Appleis executives are among those doing so. Apple execs sold off several million shares of Apple stock in the Spring, just before the stock fell to levels just above its current lows, and this would be the first insider transactions from Apple execs since that time.

Appleis stock has been trading in the US$15-US$16 range throughout July and August, which places Appleis market cap, or value, at less than US$6 billion. With Appleis cash holdings of US$4.3 billion, that means that Appleis patent portfolio, physical facilities, brain trust, inventory, and other related assets are being valued at less than US$2 billion, with that value declining to little more than US$1 billion when the stock fell below US$15. That, in short, makes AAPL a good buy.

Stock buying and selling by corporate executives is tracked by analysts because it is often an early indicator of the confidence, or lack thereof, that executives have in their own companyis future. A new round of buying in Corporate America could well indicate that the markets had found a bottom. From the Reutersi article:

Insider buying in July, traditionally a quiet month for executive stock purchases, rose 17 percent to $144 million, with executives in large-cap companies the most bullish, said Thomson Financial. The July buying level was, however, still well below the five-year average.

Executives at companies with more than $5 billion in market value accounted for $29 million, or 20 percent, of the total July buying.

"Normally, insider buying is even more concentrated within the smaller cap segment," said Lon Gerber, director of insider research at Thomson Financial. "The fact that we havenit seen large cap buying to this degree in nearly two years may signal that these companies currently offer compelling valuation opportunities."

Gerber expects to see a seasonal spike in insider buying in August, as that has been the case in each of the past 10 years.

"Weive begun to receive August filings, and the preliminary outlook is encouraging," said Gerber. Executives have recently reported purchases at Apple Computer Inc., Park Place Entertainment Corp. and American Express Co.

You can read the entire Reuters article at Yahoo!is Web site.

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