Top Insider Trades: HMA, SD, CLR, OAS

By Jonathan Moreland, founder of Insider Insights and author of Profit From Legal Insider Trading.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It is a victory for common sense. Tracking the trading behavior of company executives, directors and large shareholders in the stocks of firms they're registered in as "insiders" has proven to be profitable, according to both academic studies and (more importantly) the experience of professional investors.

Below are lists of the top 10 mainly open-market insider purchases and sales filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, December 27, 2012 as ranked by dollar value. Please note, however, that these are only factual lists, not buy and sell recommendations. Dollar value is only one metric to assess the importance of an insider transaction, and, frankly, often not even the most important metric that determines if an insider transaction is significant.

At InsiderInsights.com, we find new investment ideas just about every day using these and more intricate insider screens to determine where we should focus our subsequent fundamental and technical analysis. And while stocks don't (or shouldn't) move up or down based on insider activity alone, insiders tend to be good indicators of when real stock-moving events like earnings surprises, corporate actions, and new products may be in the offing.

So use these regular Top Insider Trades columns as the initial research tools they are meant to be, and click the links in the tables to analyze a company's or insider's full insider history. Also feel free to contact us with any questions on our proprietary insider data, and how it is best analyzed.

Sandridge (SD) Fairfax Finl BO 4,975,000 30,812,060 Amyris (AMRS) Al Thani Sheikh Abd DIR 3,355,704 9,999,998 Amyris (AMRS) Doerr L John DIR 1,677,852 4,999,999 Hlth Mg (HMA) Glenview Capital BO 450,000 4,081,500 Opko (OPK) Frost Phillip CEO,CB,BO 85,000 397,470 Access (ACMP) Stice J Michael CEO 9,000 302,400 Access (ACMP) Daberko David A DIR 6,000 199,193 Navistar (NAV) Clarke Troy A PR,COO 8,437 170,994 Trans Pet (TAT) Mitchell Noah M CEO,DIR,BO 200,000 157,656 Comm Fn (CFIS) Borello Penny Belke DIR 145,000 145,000 Source: Insider Insights

Google (GOOG) Schmidt Eric E CB,DIR 50,000 35,421,628 Cont Res (CLR) Hume Jeff B VCB 62,398 4,565,662 Oasis (OAS) Mace Roy W VP,CAO 60,000 1,861,200 Cstone (CSOD) Wallack Perry A CFO 52,000 1,437,599 Neogen (NEOG) Bohannon Lon M PR,COO,DIR 25,916 1,180,215 Acadia (ACHC) Jacobs Joey A CEO,DIR,BO 39,927 862,423 Kraton (KRA) GMT Capital BO 34,861 834,945 DSW (DSW) Ungless Derek VP,SO 13,082 829,399 Mesa (MLAB) Peterson Steven W CFO 17,054 827,137 Drew Ind (DW) Rose Edward W DIR 22,600 751,450 Source: Insider Insights

Key to Titles: A=Assistant, AI=Affiliated Investor, AO=Accounting Officer, BD=Business Development, BO=Beneficial Owner, CAO=Chief Accounting Officer, CB=Chairman, CCO=Chief Compliance Officer, CEO=Chief Executive Officer, CFO=Chief Financial Officer, CIO=Chief Information Officer, CO=Compliance Officer, COO=Chief Operating Officer, CT=Controller, CTO=Chief Technology Officer, DIR=Director, EVP=Executive Vice President, F=Founder, FO=Financial Officer, GC=General Counsel, HR=Human Resources, IO=Information Officer, IR=Investor Relations, LO=Legal Officer, MD=Managing Director, O=Officer, OO=Operating Officer, PR=President, PT=Partner, REL=Relative of an insider, SEC=Secretary, SH=Shareholder, SO=Sales Officer, TO=Technology Officer, TR=Treasurer, TT=Trustee, VCB=Vice Chairman, VP=Vice President, X=Ex Officer or other title displayed.

Jonathan Moreland is the founder of InsiderInsights.com, which produces a weekly newsletter and offers professional screening and alerting tools to analyze a proprietary, real-time insider data feed. He is also the principal of Insider Asset Management, a registered investment advisor in New York. Mr. Moreland has been analyzing insider data professionally for two decades and has been a contributor to TheStreet.com since 2001. A fundamental analyst with an MBA in finance, Mr. Moreland long ago identified insider data as an excellent first screen to determine where to focus his research efforts. He is quoted frequently in the media for his insider analysis and stock recommendations stemming from it. He is also author of Profit From Legal Insider Trading.

Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, Moreland appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.