Top Insider Trades: DVA HMA ZIPR OPK

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, January 10, 2013 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.

Titanium (TIE) Precision Castparts BO 16,829,872 277.6M Health Mgt (HMA) Glenview Capital BO 2,698,080 24.5M Scg Finl (SCGQ) Wilson Donald BO 2,354,450 23,544,500 Davita (DVA) Berkshire Hathaway BO 187,898 20,582,566 Opko Health (OPK) Frost Phillip MD CEO,CB, BO 50,000 260,215 Ziprealty (ZIPR) Osmium Partners BO 59,318 173,889 EXA (EXA) Sarno Stephen O 10,000 93,417 CB Mlp Opp Fnd (EMO) Cohen Harry D MD,CIO 4,000 87,108 Ckx Lands (CKX) Ottley Properties BO 4,200 58,772 Franklin (FC) Fung Michael DIR 3,815 49,977 Source: Insider Insights

Lml Payment Sys (LMLP) Choquer Don G BO 5,279,573 18.2M Sempra Energy (SRE) Reed Debra L CB,CEO, DIR 21,350 1,518,199 Exlservice (EXLS) Talwar Vikram CB,DIR 42,874 1,200,789 Rignet (RNET) Altira Group BO 50,000 1,050,000 Generac (GNRC) Tabat Dawn COO 30,000 1,048,500 Sempra Energy (SRE) Rowland Joyce VP 12,252 871,730 Euronet (EEFT) Brown Michael J CEO,DIR 33,882 813,594 Diligent Board (DIL.NZ) Carroll Capital BO 176,750 800,054 Guidewire (GWRE) Branson Kenneth W DIR 25,000 772,068 Kellogg (K) Kellogg WK Fdn BO 13,200 752,400 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.