Top 10 Stocks With Big Insider Buying, Buybacks

Updated from 6:13 a.m. EST

One of the primary goals of Stockpickr.com is to allow everyday investors to see what the big guns are buying. Often times, we see a big-name investor loading up on a particular stock. This is usually a good sign because you know that person put a lot of time and due diligence into that process. Plus, high-profile investors have bankers, lawyers and consultants breaking down the business every which way imaginable.

The real icing on the cake, however, is when that same company announces that an insider has purchased a large chunk of stock or even better, the board initiates a new, large share-buyback program.

That's why each Thursday at Stockpickr we update the Top 10 Insider Purchases and Buybacks portfolio, featuring the stocks that recently have had either big insider purchases or newly announced buybacks, as well as super-investors accumulating shares.

McAfee (MFE Quote) makes this week's portfolio. The computer software maker has set in place a new $750 million stock buyback plan, higher than the $500 million program analysts had expected.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company also just reported solid fourth-quarter earnings and provided guidance exceeding Wall Street expectations. In the fourth quarter, net sales jumped to $356.5 million from $305.2 million a year ago, helped by 24% growth in its international business. Net income for the period, excluding items, was $75.1 million, or 46 cents a share, a penny above analyst estimates. For the full year, net income grew 21% to $167 million, or $1.02 a share, from $137.5 million, or 84 cents a share, last year.

CEO David DeWalt noted that while he does "worry a little bit about the macro [economic] climate, particularly consumers ... we've been doing well. We've got new partnerships and a bunch of new contracts that keep us going."

Analysts were more than pleased with the news of solid fourth-quarter and full-year performances topped off by solid guidance.

Daniel Ives of FBR Research noted, "While macro uncertainty remains a concern, McAfee is not seeing any signs of weakness in the field, which echoes positive comments we have heard from other security software vendors over the last few weeks."

Katherine Egbert of Jeffries & Co. also pointed out that "we believe that McAfee is attractive at current levels, especially given the relative economic safety of the core security franchise." She has a buy rating and a $43 price target, noting not just guidance but also the buyback.

It's also good to see a successful investor like Moore Capital invested in McAfee stock. The fund, run by famed investor Louis Bacon, also holds Cisco (CSCO Quote), another recent buyback play, and Intel (INTC Quote).

We also like that McAfee is in the portfolio of the BlackRock Large-Cap Growth Fund. This four-star Morningstar-rated fund also owns Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) and IBM (IBM Quote).

So with McAfee, we have a buyback, solid earnings and guidance, some buy ratings and two successful investors in the stock. It may be time to take a closer look at McAfee.