Top Insider Stocks for 2025: NKE, FDX and OXY News ad

The new year is just beginning, which means investors need to properly prepare for the first quarter so that they can use the rest of the year as an open field for new positions and ideas, not only with confidence, but also with the financial space they would create for themselves after a good start to the year. To achieve this, investors should join what some Wall Street firms are doing now.

Here is today’s list insider purchasing activity comes into play as investors can reverse engineer the reasons why these larger firms buy shares and, if justified enough, get them for themselves. This could ensure that their portfolios start the new year with a bang, leaving plenty of room to maintain the momentum for the rest of the year.

Promotions such as Nike Inc. NYSE: FROM, FedEx Company. New York Stock Exchange: FDXand even Occidental Petroleum Co. New York Stock Exchange: OXY All have recently attracted the attention of institutional buyers and investors. Wall Street analysts appear to agree on the fundamental stories underlying these companies, which are strong enough to justify double-digit growth potential in the coming months.

Nike Stock Drop: A Rare Opportunity

It’s not often that a blue-chip stock like Nike trades at such low levels, even when the stock is in the highly cyclical consumer discretionary sector. After several mixed quarters that showed some weakness in its Chinese affiliates, Nike shares fell to a low of 68% of their 52-week high.

Slower growth overseas may have partially justified the discount. However, for now, most market participants can agree that they have been largely overextended. The leader of this school of thought is billionaire value investor Bill Ackman, who has amassed a stake of up to 3 million shares of Nike.

With a multimillion-dollar position, Ackman is betting that the company’s international exposure and brand recognition will not only help the stock get back on its feet and command a premium for its presence, but will also mitigate most—if not all—of the risks associated with a possible downturn in the economy.

Wall Street analysts, particularly those at Robert Baird, have chosen to share optimism about Nike stock as of December 2024. Given the stock’s outperform rating, its new price target of $105 per share indicates net upside to 43.2. % of where the stock is trading today.

Business Activity Represented by FedEx Shares

While FedEx stock doesn’t offer as deep a discount as Nike stock (87% from its 52-week high), it still has enough upside potential to attract recent insider buying activity. State Street’s top buyers decided to accumulate up to $2.6 billion in FedEx shares, or a 3.8% stake in the company.

Knowing that as the Federal Reserve (Fed) lowers interest rates, business activity will likely begin to pick up again. Among the many industries that can benefit from this change, the transportation sector is at the center of most businesses and their needs when it comes to transportation. This is where the appeal of FedEx stock comes into play.

Wall Street analysts agreed with the theme as analysts at JP Morgan Chase decided to reiterate their Overweight rating on the stock, this time maintaining its $370 valuation. To prove these new targets right, FedEx stock would have to rise to 35% from today’s prices, justifying recent buying by these institutions.

Warren Buffett is back at it again with OXY

Given the rise in business activity, investors should not be surprised by renewed optimism in the energy sector. However, this time the confirmation could not be stronger. Warren Buffett has decided to buy up to 29% of Occidental Petroleum, and these numbers support his decision.

First, the stock is trading at a significant discount to book price (P/B) today. Compared to the energy sector’s average valuation of 3.6 times, Occidental Petroleum’s stock multiple of 2.0 times gives Buffett exactly the discount he’s known for, and one that investors shouldn’t ignore today.

With the stock now sitting at 71% of its 52-week high, price targets are more valuable than ever before; for example, Mizuho analysts now see a fair valuation for the stock at $70 per share. This view would see the stock rise as much as 38.6% from where it is trading today, another win for investors this year.

You might want to hear this before you consider FedEx.

MarketBeat tracks Wall Street’s top-rated and best-performing analysts daily and the stocks they recommend to their clients. MarketBeat has identified five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now, before the broader market takes hold… and FedEx wasn’t on the list.

While FedEx currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, the top-rated analysts consider these five stocks to be Strong Buys.

View five stocks here

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