Shares of SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) stock closed higher by over 9% today on the heels of a month of heavy insider buying. According to Finviz, SOFI insiders have made 10 transactions this month, nine of them being buys. CEO Anthony Noto accounts for seven of the buy transactions. Further, the most recent buy transaction was on March 17; director Harvey Schwartz purchased 58,000 shares of SOFI stock.
Here’s what investors should know looking forward.
SOFI Stock: Insider Harvey Schwartz Buys Shares
On March 17, Schwartz purchased shares at an average price of $8.83. After the purchase, Schwartz directly owns a total of 214,852 shares. Today, SOFI stock closed at $10.14. That means Schwartz is currently sitting on a gain of nearly 15% from his recent buy transaction.
That said, CEO Anthony Noto’s insider purchases have trumped Schwartz’s this March. In total, Noto has purchased 133,344 shares of SoFi for the period. The CEO’s most recent purchase occurred on March 15, when he purchased 34,000 shares at an average price of $8.91. Based on today’s closing price, Noto is up almost 14% on his most recent purchase.
Are other insiders as bullish on this company? It certainly seems so. SoFi insiders have purchased 405.5 million shares over the past 12 months. They have also sold 181 million shares during that period. That makes for a net activity of 224 million shares bought for the past year.
Insiders may sell stocks for a variety of reasons, whether it be for personal expenses, tax expenses or a loss of faith in the company. However, there’s really only one reason why insiders buy company stock: they believe it will go up.
Who Else Is Betting Big on SoFi?
Tracking institutional ownership of a stock allows retail traders to take a glimpse inside the minds of some the world’s best money managers. According to WhaleWisdom, which tracks all 13F filers, 427 funds own SOFI stock, an increase of 127 funds from the previous quarter. However, the institutional put/call ratio lies at 1.38. That means more funds are buying put options than call options. A reason for this may be that funds are hedging their long positions with put options.
180 new funds initiated a new position in SoFi during Q4. Meanwhile, 50 funds completely liquidated their positions. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five institutional owners of SOFI stock:
- SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY): 117.8 million shares or 14.59% ownership.
- Vanguard Group: 53.4 million shares or 6.61% ownership.
- Red Crow Capital: 42.6 million shares or 5.28% ownership.
- T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW): 35.3 million shares or 4.37% ownership.
- Silver Lake Group: 31.2 million shares or 3.86% ownership.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
