Insider buying is generally seen as a bullish indicator by investors.
After all, few people should know a company better than its own directors. So, if they have the confidence to buy shares, it could be a sign that things are going well and they expect them to appreciate in value.
One company which has just revealed some significant insider buying is Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC).
According to a change of director's interest notice, the banking giant's new chairman, John McFarlane, has been adding to his holding this month.
What did the notice reveal?
The notice shows that Mr McFarlane was making purchases through on-market trades between 3 November and 10 November.
In total, the company's chairman picked up 20,000 shares over the seven days, which has tripled his holding to a total of 30,000 shares.
Mr McFarlane paid a total of approximately $355,000 for the shares, which equates to an average price of $17.75 per share.
This certainly has proven to be a good move by the chairman. The Westpac share price is currently trading at $18.68, which is up 5.2% from the average price paid for these shares.
Not the only buyer.
Westpac's chairman wasn't the only one buying shares last week.
As I mentioned here yesterday, Australia's oldest bank was very popular with retail investors last week.
CommSec investors were trading Westpac shares following its full year results release. So much so, the bank accounted for 1.7% of trades on the brokerage platform.
The vast majority of these trades came from the buy side, which appears to be an indication that they believe the worst is now behind the bank.
One broker that would agree is Morgans. Last week it put an add rating and $21.50 price target on Westpac's shares. This price target implies potential upside of 15% over the next 12 months excluding dividends.