Top Insider Trades: FB NLNK GD NOW

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 Tuesday, February 5, 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.

Newlink (NLNK) Stine Seed Farm BO 880,000 10,032,000 Aegerion (AEGR) Perceptive Advisors BO 50,000 1,389,400 Health (HEWA) Dhadphale Lalit CEO,DIR, BO 500,000 500,000 Pennantpark (PFLT) Penn Arthur H CB,CEO, FO 29,661 407,504 Wilson Bank (WBHC) Trice John R DIR 8,543 373,756 Triumph (TGI) Drosdick John G DIR 5,000 346,048 General (GD) Osborn William A DIR 5,000 332,375 Hawaiian (HCOM) Twin Haven Sp Op Fd BO 14,300 285,571 Innovus (NORH) Damaj Bassam CEO,DIR, BO 250,406 118,993 ADT (ADT) Colligan Thomas J DIR 2,000 94,709 Source: Insider Insights

Microsoft (MSFT) Gates William H DIR 5,500,000 153,272,352 Tri Pointe Homes (TPH) Sternlicht Barry S DIR,BO 5,742,350 97,619,952 Facebook (FB) Breyer James DIR 2,521,778 74,077,536 Servicenow (NOW) Luddy Frederic B DIR,BO 455,000 12,427,014 Linkedin (LNKD) Hoffman Reid DIR,BO 83,334 10,254,100 Linkedin (LNKD) Nishar Dipchand VP 64,625 8,034,356 Travelzoo (TZOO) Azzurro Capital BO 324,218 6,862,556 Facebook (FB) Sandberg Sheryl COO,DIR 176,452 5,105,156 Facebook (FB) Ebersman David A CFO 173,400 5,006,323 Linkedin (LNKD) Weiner Jeff CEO,DIR 37,000 4,552,639 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.