Top Insider Trades: FB RUSHB YELP EXA

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 Monday, January 14, 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.

Opko Health (OPK) Frost Phillip CEO,CB, BO 30,000 160,586 Nuveen (JQC) Adams William VP 7,300 73,009 Valhi (VHI) Simmons Harold C CB,DIR, BO 4,000 58,800 EXA (EXA) Furlong Edmond COO,CFO 5,973 57,161 Tiger X Med (CDOM) Brooks Andrew A CEO,DIR, BO 760,000 45,600 Micro Imaging (MMTC) Pett Robert A BO 20.0M 40,000 Orbit Intl (ORBT) Elkhorn Partners BO 10,000 33,799 Angiodynamics (ANGO) Gould Kevin J DIR 2,700 31,277 Bingo Com (BNGOF) Williams Tryon M CB,DIR, BO 55,655 22,875 Guaranty Banc (GBNK) Wycoff W Kirk DIR,BO 10,000 20,000 Source: Insider Insights

Facebook (FB) Schroepfer Michael VP 109,999 3,481,508 Rush Ent (RUSHB) Rush W Marvin CB,DIR, BO 107,922 1,836,617 Tesla Motors (TSLA) Kroeger Harald DIR 46,526 1,562,687 Hershey (HSY) Alfonso Humberto VP,CFO 10,000 750,000 YELP (YELP) Donaker Geoffrey COO,DIR 35,000 735,189 Estee Lauder (EL) Freda Fabrizio PR,CEO, DIR 10,000 640,062 IHS (IHS) Yergin Daniel VCB 5,895 598,700 Power Sol (PSIX) Winemaster Gary CEO,CB, BO 24,265 400,373 Splunk (SPLK) Stein Leonard R VP,GC, SEC 10,000 310,000 Aruba Net (ARUN) Rottler Juergen DIR 11,854 266,445 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.