Most investors spend their time chasing analyst forecasts, earnings whispers, or the latest macro headlines. But tucked behind all the noise is a quieter, more telling signal – what the company’s own top brass are doing with their personal money.
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When the people running the show start buying shares, they’re not making guesses – they’re acting on firsthand knowledge of what’s really going on behind the scenes. They know the product pipeline, the customer trends, the real numbers behind the headlines. When they put serious money into their own stock, it’s worth paying attention.
And thanks to regulatory requirements, those trades don’t stay hidden. Federal rules mandate that insiders publicly disclose their transactions, ensuring a level playing field. For savvy investors, that’s powerful intel – and TipRanks’ Insiders’ Hot Stocks makes it easy to track. It gathers these disclosures and highlights the most noteworthy insider activity.
Using that very tool, we’ve zeroed in on two stocks where insiders have been making meaningful purchases. Adding to the conviction, some analysts on Wall Street are also upbeat, tagging both names with bullish ratings and projecting double-digit upside. Let’s take a closer look.
CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)
We’ve all heard of CRISPR technology, the revolutionary medical tech that allows genetic scientists to fully sequence DNA, and to create edits and alterations in the DNA sequences of living organisms. That’s a mouthful, but for our purposes here we can say that the technology allows for the creation of new therapeutic agents capable of precisely targeting the genetic source of various disease conditions.
This is exactly what the company CRISPR Therapeutics does. The company, which was founded in 2013, uses CRISPR gene editing technology to target the causes of severe genetic diseases that lack effective treatments. CRISPR Therapeutics has programs targeting diseases in several fields, including hemoglobinopathies, immune-oncology, and autoimmune disorders. The company is even working with techniques to conduct in vivo gene editing – that is, editing cells inside the patient’s body to trigger an internal therapeutic effect.
CRISPR Therapeutics made waves at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, when it received FDA approval for CASGEVY, or Exa-cel – giving the company the world’s first CRISPR-based therapeutic agent to reach the commercialization stage. Exa-cel is currently used as a treatment for two blood conditions, sickle-cell disease and thalassemia.
Currently, CRISPR Therapeutics has a diverse pipeline of drug candidates under development, with programs at pre-clinical research, IND-enabling, and human clinical trial stages. Prominent among these programs is CTX310, under development as a treatment for cardiovascular disease. Last month, the company reported positive additional Phase 1 trial data on CTX310, showing a statistically significant therapeutic effect as well as a tolerable safety profile. In addition to these updates, the company reported ‘continued progress’ with CTX320, another potential cardiovascular disease treatment, with data expected for release during 1H26 (pushed back from the previously expected 2Q25). Finally, the company also stated that a third drug candidate, CTX340, a pre-clinical in vivo cardiovascular drug candidate, is progressing through the IND-enabling stages.
Turning to the insiders, we find some big news. Board of Directors member George Simeon bought 989,812 shares, spending a whopping $51,499,918 on the purchase. Simeon’s stake in the company now exceeds $132 million. We should note that, since this July 16 purchase, shares in CRSP have jumped 19.5%.
Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson is upbeat on CRSP’s prospects, seeing recent developments in a positive light. He writes, “We view the additional CTX310 updates as encouraging building on the recently provided initial data. While the delayed CTX320 readouts may be disappointing to some investors, we continue to view this program as highly attractive with future updates as well as potential read across from readouts of other Lp(a) programs. Lastly, CRSP is also advancing its preclinical program CTX340 (anti-angiotensinogen) through IND/CTA-enabling studies. Stepping back, we think CRSP’s in vivo programs remain underappreciated, and the recent LLY/ VERV deal should add interest and validation to CRSP’s strategy behind its in vivo franchise.”
Based on this stance, Olson rates shares in CRSP as Outperform (i.e., Buy), and gives the stock a $95 price target that points toward a one-year upside potential of 44%. (To watch Olson’s track record, click here)
Overall, CRSP shares get a Moderate Buy rating from the Street’s consensus, based on 21 recent analyst reviews that include 14 Buys and 7 Holds. The stock is trading for $65.93, and its $69.38 average target price suggests a gain of 5% over the next 12 months. (See CRSP stock forecast)
Elevance Health (ELV)
Next on our list here is Elevance Health, a company that holds a large position in the health insurance industry. Elevance has a long history in the health insurance field – prior to its June 2022 name change and rebranding, it was well-known as Anthem. Currently, Elevance has a strong presence across 14 states and holds more than 13% market share in the US health insurance industry. This market share makes the company the nation’s third-largest health insurer.
Elevance offers its insurance plans through several subsidiary companies: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Wellpoint, and Carelon, which is a health care services business. In addition to these three large companies, Elevance operates through another nine names, providing Medicare and Medicaid plans, servicing veterans, offering dental care, and overseeing government contracts. Overall, Elevance boasts that it serves more than 100 million people.
We should note that shares in Elevance dropped sharply last week after the company released its 2Q25 earnings results. In that report, the company had a top line of $49.4 billion, up 14% year-over-year – and $1.22 billion above the forecast. The bottom line, however, missed expectations. At $8.84, the company’s adj. EPS came in 8 cents per share worse than anticipated. Additionally, the company now anticipates 2025 adj. EPS to hit ~$30.00, down from the prior $34.15 to $34.85 range vs. the Street’s $34.15 forecast. Shares in ELV are down 20% since the earnings release.
Nevertheless, Elevance maintained its dividend payment, declaring a common share dividend of $1.71. At the annualized rate of $6.84 per share, the dividend gives a forward yield of 2.4%. Elevance states that, year-to-date, it has returned $2 billion in capital to its shareholders.
The share price drop must have looked enticing to Gail Boudreaux, the President and CEO of Elevance. She made the last major insider transaction in this stock, buying 8,500 shares on July 18. She paid nearly $2.44 million for the stock and currently holds $41.86 million worth of ELV shares.
Analyst A.J. Rice, of UBS, has taken note of Elevance’s tough quarter and lays out a case for buying in anyway. In his recent note on the stock, Rice says, “While it was not surprising that ELV also faced pressure in Medicaid and the Marketplace given MCO peer preannouncements, the size of the EPS reduction was greater than anticipated. We believe margins can be restored through rate updates and repricing; however, management recognizes there are too many unknown variables at this time to provide a sense as to the projected pace of recovery in 2026 and beyond. Despite pressures in the government business, we remain a Buy on ELV as we believe the company can lean on its commercial and Carelon segments for earnings stability and growth during this period of volatility.”
Along with that Buy rating, Rice gives ELV shares a $435 price target, implying that the stock will appreciate by 54.5% over the next year. (To watch Rice’s track record, click here)
Elevance shares are currently rated as a Strong Buy on Wall Street, based on 12 recent Buy reviews against 4 Holds. The stock is priced at $281.72, and its $375.93 average target price indicates room for a gain of 33.5% on the one-year horizon. (See ELV stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.