10 Companies Whose Insiders Purchased The Most Stock In 2016

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon personally spent $26.6 million of his own money to buy his company's stock back in early February.

The executive acquired 500,000 shares of JPMorgan's stock when it was trading near its lows for the year. Today, the half a million shares are valued at more than $43 million - giving him the title of one of the most savvy insiders to buy their own company's stock in 2016.

According to a Bloomberg report, a majority of insiders at S&P 500 index companies didn't purchase a single share of their company's stock in the open market throughout 2016.

One possible reason to explain this trend stems from the fact that many CEOs receive the bulk of their salary in stock.

"If you work at a butcher and a significant benefit of the job is that you get to take home several steaks every week, why would you want to buy more steak?" Ian Levin, a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel who focuses on executive compensation, told Bloomberg.

Nevertheless, there were several executives who bought their company's stock. Here is Bloomberg's list of the top S&P 500 companies where insiders (not necessarily its CEO) bought the most stock throughout 2016.

• 1. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA - $164 million. Top buyer was CEO Stefano Pessina.
• 2. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc FOXA - $163 million. Top buyer was an unnamed 10 percent shareholder.
• 3. Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN - $50 million. Top buyer was CEO Steve Wynn.
• 4. Abbott Laboratories ABT - $48 million. Top buyer was CEO Miles White.
• 5. JPMorgan - $28 million. Top buyer was CEO Jamie Dimon.
• 6. Public Storage PSA - $21 million. Top buyer was an unnamed 10 percent shareholder.
• 7. Kinder Morgan Inc KMI - $18 million. Top buyer was an unnamed director.
• 8. Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM - $18 million. Top buyer was CEO Frank Leighton.
• 9. Seagate Technology PLC STX - $10 million. Top buyer was CEO Stephen Luczo.
• 10. Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK - $9 million. Top buyer was an unnamed director.