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Although U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, there were a few notable insider trades.

When insiders purchase shares, it indicates their confidence in the company’s prospects or that they view the stock as a bargain. Either way, this signals an opportunity to go long on the stock. Insider purchases should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a buying decision.

Below is a look at a few recent notable insider purchases. For more, check out Benzinga’s insider transactions platform.

Northern Technologies International

• The Trade: Northern Technologies International Corporation (NASDAQ:NTIC) Director Sarah E. Kemp acquired a total of 1,275 shares at  an average price of $15.70. To acquire these shares, it cost around $20,018.
• What’s Happening: On April 11, Northern Technologies International reported better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted EPS results.
• What Northern Technologies International Does: Northern Technologies International Corp, or NTIC is a United States-based firm that develops and markets environmentally beneficial products and services world-wide either directly or through a network of joint ventures, distributors, and agents.

Harrow

• The Trade: Harrow, Inc. (NASDAQ:HROW) 10% owner Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a total of 20,000 shares at an average price of $10.23. To acquire these shares, it cost around $204,640.
• What’s Happening: On April 11, Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on Harrow with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $24.
• What Harrow Does: Harrow Inc is an eyecare pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of ophthalmic pharmaceutical products for the U.S. market.

Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here

RXO

• The Trade: RXO, Inc. (NYSE:RXO) 10% owner Farhad Nanji bought a total of 100,000 shares at an average price of $19.82. To acquire these shares, it cost around $1.98 million.
• What’s Happening: RXO said it will issue its first-quarter financial results before the opening bell on May 2, 2024.
• What RXO Does: RXO Inc is a brokered transportation platform defined by cutting-edge technology and a nimble, asset-light business model, with the largest component being core truck brokerage business.

Read More: Honeywell Likely To Report Higher Q1 Earnings; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street’s Most Accurate Analysts

X, formerly Twitter, is the only mainstream technology/social media platform to allow open discourse and advertising for cannabis-related products.

That’s according to Alexa Alianiello, X’s U.S. sales and partnerships leader. In an exclusive interview during the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference,  Alianiello expressed pride in X’s role as a pioneer in creating a safe space for cannabis-related expressions.

“We really are the only public platform that allows for the free expression of cannabis conversation,” Alianiello said, emphasizing X’s unique position in the tech industry. The platform not only permits discussions often taboo in other spaces but also supports the advertising of cannabis businesses as well as THC and hemp-derived goods.

See video below.

See Also: How To Thrive In Cannabis Advertising, Mastering The Market With Lauren White Of VDX.tv

Future Prospects And Public Power

X’s robust legal team supports moderating and navigating cannabis content based on varying state and federal regulations. This team includes in-house counsel and external firms specializing in cannabis law, ensuring compliance and inclusivity in their policies.

Alianiello remains hopeful that other platforms will emulate X’s inclusive approach. However, changes in the legal framework are necessary for a broader shift. X’s influence in fostering a public dialogue about cannabis is about supporting businesses and enriching the public conversation. Alianiello encourages more individuals and companies to use their platform to share and amplify diverse cannabis stories.

Empowering Voices In Cannabis Discourse

Concluding the interview, Alianiello called on those unable to attend the conference to engage with X’s platform, highlighting its capability to empower users to contribute to the cannabis movement. “Just that everyone has the power to use their voice as a part of the public conversation around cannabis,” she remarked, underscoring the importance of community-driven dialogue in destigmatizing cannabis.

Image: Shutterstock

Now Read: Study Finds Unsafe Levels Of Toxic Metals In Commercially Available Cannabis Rolling Papers

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) shares are trading higher Wednesday after the U.S. Senate passed a bill under which ByteDance would need to divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.

What Happened: Late Tuesday, Congress passed new legislation to ban or force a sale of popular social media platform TikTok, according to a report from the Washington Post.

The Senate approved the bill 79 to 18 as part of an aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The House already approved the bill over the weekend, so the proposal is now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk, who is expected to sign it this week.

Once the bill is signed, parent company ByteDance, which has been scrutinized for potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party, will have approximately nine months to sell TikTok. If the company fails to divest the popular app within that time, it will face a national ban.

The lawmakers who are pushing hard to implement restrictions on TikTok have cited concerns that ByteDance ownership may allow the Chinese government to access American user data.

From Last Month: ‘Enemy Of The People’: Trump Slams Meta Stock As TikTok Ban Faces Scrutiny

Meta Platforms is due to report first-quarter financial results after the market close on Wednesday. The company is expected to report earnings of $4.32 per share on revenue of $36.156 billion, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.

Last quarter, Meta delivered an upside surprise when it reported better-than-expected results, initiated a quarterly dividend and announced a $50 billion increase to its buyback program.

Meta said it focused on increasing its operating discipline, delivering strong execution and improving advertising performance in 2023. In 2024, the company said it plans to build on its progress in each of those areas while advancing longer-term ambitions in AI and Reality Labs.

META Price Action: Meta shares were up 2.86% at $510.31 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Shutterstock.

During times of turbulence and uncertainty in the markets, many investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. These are often companies that have high free cash flows and reward shareholders with a high dividend payout.

Benzinga readers can review the latest analyst takes on their favorite stocks by visiting our Analyst Stock Ratings page. Traders can sort through Benzinga’s extensive database of analyst ratings, including by analyst accuracy.

Below are the ratings of the most accurate analysts for three high-yielding stocks in the financial sector.

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

• Dividend Yield: 6.27%
• Wells Fargo analyst Elyse Greenspan maintained an Equal-Weight rating and raised the price target from $26 to $28 on April 11, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 76%.
• Piper Sandler analyst John Barnidge maintained a Neutral rating and boosted the price target from $28 to $32 on April 5, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 75%.
• Recent News: Lincoln Financial Group said it will report its results for the first quarter on May 2, 2024.

New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB)

• Dividend Yield: 6.29%
• Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz maintained a Neutral rating and cut the price target from $5 to $3.5 on March 7, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 78%.
• Morgan Stanley analyst Manan Gosalia maintained an Equal-Weight rating and slashed the price target from $6 to $4 on March 7, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 71%.
• Recent News: On April 12, New York Community Bancorp reported the appointment of four distinguished leaders to its executive management team.

The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

• Dividend Yield: 7.01%
• BMO Capital analyst Rufus Hone maintained a Market Perform rating and raised the price target from $12 to $13 on Feb. 7, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 76%.
• Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller downgraded the stock from Peer Perform to Underperform on Jan. 4, 2024. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 73%.
• Recent News: The Western Union Company is scheduled to host a webcast and conference call to discuss first quarter results on April 24, at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Read More: Tesla, Boeing And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Wednesday

Social media and technology company Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) will report first-quarter financial results after market close Wednesday, April 24.

Here are the earnings estimates and what analysts are saying ahead of the report.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Meta Platforms to report first-quarter revenue of $36.16 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported revenue of $28.65 billion in last year’s first quarter. Meta Platforms has beaten revenue estimates from analysts in six straight quarters.

Guidance from Meta Platforms for the first quarter calls for revenue to be in a range of $34.5 billion to $37.0 billion.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of $4.32 in the first quarter, compared to $2.20 in last year’s first quarter. The company has beaten analysts’ estimates for earnings per share in four straight quarters.

Related Link: Zuckerberg Vs. Musk: Billionaire Battle Sees Meta Platforms Rejoin $1 Trillion Market Cap Club Before Tesla

Roth on META: With Meta Platforms shares up 36% year-to-date, Roth analyst Rohit Kulkarni said there are great expectations for the company’s earnings report.

The analyst, who had a Buy rating and $500 price target, said buyside expectations could be “overly ambitious” and he remains cautious.

“We are marginally cautious heading into 1Q earnings as ’24 quarterly revenue cadence under tougher YoY comps, incremental growth drivers, and impact from European regulations are big unresolved debates among investors,” Kulkarni said.

The analyst said investors could be expecting a beat and raise quarter from Meta Platforms with revenue higher than $37 billion and guidance for the second quarter to be announced at around $39.5 billion.

Kulkarni called European regulations an unknown that is tricky to predict currently.

“We will monitor developments closely as early enforcement actions become more apparent over the next couple of months.”

The analyst said comps get tougher for Meta Platforms in the second quarter and beyond, which could make the stock returning to all-time highs tough.

Benchmark on META: The impact of China-based advertisers and Reels monetization are key areas of topic for Benchmark analyst Mark Zgutowicz.

The analyst had a Hold rating and no price target on the stock.

“Given China-based advertisers drove nearly 1/3 of Meta’s ’23 ad growth and our more modest ‘24E contribution, we assume ‘24E core (non-China) ad growth accelerates,” Zgutowicz said.

The analyst also highlighted Meta’s recent increased artificial intelligence capabilities with version 2 of Meta AI rolled out. This includes posing questions to the AI assistant on WhatsApp and Messenger and providing information on posts and videos on Facebook and Instagram.

“We expect these and other use cases will be elaborated on the call.”

The analyst said that the investment in data center and GPU capital could be increased given the new capabilities of artificial intelligence for the company.

JMP on META: The use of artificial intelligence within the Meta family of apps could be the first generative AI experience that some users have, JMP analyst Andrew Boone said.

“Meta is leaning into high user engagement across its family of apps to create an adjacent service with Meta AI, similar to how it launched short-form video with Reels,” Boone said.

The analyst, who has a Market Outperform rating and $550 price target, said the large opportunity for Meta “is to take share of search queries.” This could lead to more data to use in personalized ads.

Boone said the new AI could lead to Meta being in an investment cycle for data centers and AI talent.

“AI unlocks new areas of engagement, data, and monetization.”

The analyst said data from Pew Research from February 2024 showed that 23% of U.S. adults have used ChaGPT, which means Meta’s AI tools could be the first time many of its users experience generative AI.

“With AI chats likely more personalized over time as models improve and learn from past interactions, there may be a first mover advantage that Meta can capture.”

Boone said the opportunity for Meta is additional searches, which has potential for more monetization.

META Price Action: Meta shares are up 2.88% to $495.02 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $207.13 to $531.49. Shares of Meta are up over 130% in the last year.

Read Next: Microsoft, Meta Reveal Limited Edition Meta Quest VR Headset With Game Pass Bundle‘

Photo: Shutterstock

Pseudonymous cryptocurrency trader Vapor highlighted the growing prominence of meme coins in the digital asset space, asserting that they have become a force that cannot be ignored.

What Happened: Vapor took to X (formerly Twitter) to point out several advantages of meme coins over other popular crypto investment options. They are:

• Simpler than on-chain Ponzi schemes.
• More sustainable than pool2 farms.
• More liquid than NFTs.
• Safer than DeFi due to the absence of smart contract risks.

Meme coins also do not suffer from inflation or insider dumping through SAFTs (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) like low float, high fully diluted value (FDV) new coins.

Vapor also suggests that meme coins provide better odds of winning compared to real-life lotteries or sports betting. As a result, they are absorbing liquidity and mindshare from various other investment venues in the cryptocurrency space.

Also Read: Crypto ‘Greed Almost At All-Time High, But Prices Are Not’ Warns Trader: ‘This Cycle Is Kinda Cooked’

Why It Matters: The crypto trader foresees that by the top of the current market cycle, at least three meme coins will surpass a market capitalization of $100 billion each. This forecast highlights the potential for meme coins to reach unprecedented levels of growth and adoption.

Looking back to a February 2024 Benzinga Twitter poll, readers voted on which meme coins they aremost bullish on.

GME Coin topped the list, followed by Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE) took the third and fourth spot.

What’s Next: The influence of meme coins and Bitcoin as an institutional asset class are topics expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.

Read Next: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu And Other Memecoins Fueling Mass Adoption Of Base’s L2 Network, Coinbase Exec Says: ‘They Are Going To Be One Of The Biggest Drivers’

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Image: Shutterstock

Beverage and food giant PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) is set to report first-quarter financial results before the market open Tuesday.

Here are the key earnings estimates and what analysts are saying ahead of the report.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Pepsi to report first-quarter revenue of $18.08 billion, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported revenue of $17.85 billion in last year’s first quarter. Pepsi beat revenue estimates from analysts in nine of the past 10 quarters.

Analysts expect Pepsi to report first-quarter earnings per share of $1.52, compared to $1.50 reported in last year’s first quarter. The company beat Street consensus estimates in 10 of the past 10 quarters.

Related Link: Pepsi Stock Chart Looks Bullish Ahead Of Q1 Earnings, But Analysts Are Cautious

What Analysts Are Saying: A Quaker recall and slowdown of salty snacks could impact the first quarter results from Pepsi, Wedbush analyst Gerald Pascarelli said in a new investor note.

“Based on measured channel reads, we are modestly trimming our 1Q revenue estimate for PEP due to a larger than expected slowdown in salty snacks,” Pascarelli said.

The analyst, who has an Outperform rating and $195 price target, said the company could start 2024 with trends behind guidance for the full year.

“With international expected to continue to outperform domestic markets, we think the quarter should be fine and that PEP will reiterate its current organic sales and LC EPS guidance.”

Here are other recent analyst ratings and price targets on Pepsi.

Barclays: Overweight rating, raised price target from $183 to $184

Jefferies: Buy rating, raised price target from $199 to $209

Morgan Stanley: Upgraded from Equal Weight to Overweight, had $190 price target

PEP Price Action: Pepsi shares were up 1.34% to $176.46 at market close Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $155.83 to $196.88. Shares of Pepsi are up 4% year-to-date in 2024.

Read Next: Food Giants Pivot To Discounts And New Sizes Amid Decreased Spending by Low-Income Americans

Photo: rafapress via Shutterstock

Music streaming company Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) reports first-quarter financial results before the market open Tuesday.

Here are the key items to watch plus what analysts are saying.

Spotify Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Spotify to report first-quarter revenue of over $3.9 billion, and earnings per share of 78 cents, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Last year’s first quarter showed revenue of $3.27 billion. The company has missed Street consensus estimates for revenue in four of the last five quarters.

Related Link: Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Hits 1.6M US Sales, Sets Spotify On Fire With Over 300M Streams

Coming price increases for subscribers could help provide the bullish case for Spotify, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said in a new analyst note.

“We expect Spotify’s transformation from a great product to a great business to accelerate in 2024, as price increases, market share gains, and operating leverage become even more clear,” Swinburne said.

The analyst has an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $270 to $350.

Swinburne titles his analyst note “The Bullish Analysts Dept.,” which is a take on the new Taylor Swift album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.”

“We raise our estimates and our PT and see the recent share weakness as an opportunity.”

The analyst said the assumption is Spotify will increase its prices “more quickly,” which could reflect the value it provides to its users and subscribers.

“Supporting our bullish view is what we see as a highly aligned music industry, focused on increasing monetization for the entire supply chain.”

The analyst sees Spotify as a market leader that can show its significant earnings power going forward.

“Expectations are higher and more is priced in. However, we continue to see significant upside for this $50 billion company just beginning to inflect towards profitability and FCF generation.”

Spotify subscribers using more than one product could be a key to monetization efforts, KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson said.

“25% of Spotify subscribers have tried audiobooks. 25% of paid users in the U.S. Of those who started an audiobook (U.S., U.K., Australia), 57% are between the ages of 18-34,” Patterson said.

The analyst said Spotify started offering 15 hours of audiobook listening to subscribers in October. Subscribes can also purchase additional hours of listening.

“Spotify said those additional purchases have more than doubled in 1Q24 vs. 4Q23.”

Patterson said data suggests that Spotify is growing the audiobooks category.

The analyst also highlighted Spotify’s attention to the new Swift album, which included a pop-up library in Los Angeles. The new album has set new records for Spotify for one day streams for an album and song.

Patterson has an Overweight rating and recently raised the price target on Spotify from $300 to $350.

Here are other recent analyst ratings on Spotify and their price targets.

• Macquarie: Outperform rating, raises price target from $300 to $330
• Loop Capital: Hold rating, raises price target from $165 to $250
• Canaccord Genuity: Buy rating, raises price target from $315 to $330
• Benchmark: Buy rating, raises price target from $290 to $325
• Deutsche Bank: Buy rating, raises price target from $260 to $340
• Goldman Sachs: Neutral rating, raises price target from $235 to $277
• Raymond James: Outperform rating, raises price target from $260 to $320

Key Items to Watch: A price increase to subscribers is likely one of the key items that investors and analysts are focused on for the first quarter. Reported to be an increase of $1 to $2 per month, the price increase could help shape the company’s monetization and efforts on profitability.

Another key area to watch is artificial intelligence. Spotify has been rolling out features that include using AI to provide better selections for users. The company could comment how these features are performing based on customer feedback and usage.

While the results of the new Swift album won’t be included in the first quarter, they could provide a look at how dominant Spotify is in the sector and how the bestselling musician could help provide a boost to second quarter results.

SPOT Price Action: Spotify shares are at $273.31 versus a 52-week trading range of $128.67 to $313.16. Shares of Spotify are up over 100% in the last year.

Read Next: Taylor Swift’s New Album Drops At Midnight: Here’s How Much The Megastar Could Make From The New Project

Image: Shutterstock

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares are in the spotlight Thursday ahead of earnings. Here’s what you need to know.

What To Know: Netflix is set to report first-quarter financial results after the bell on Thursday. Analysts expect the streaming giant to report earnings of $4.52 per share and revenue of $9.275 billion, according to estimates from Benzinga Pro.

Last quarter, Netflix turned in mixed results. The company beat revenue estimates of $8.72 billion, turning in revenue of $8.83 billion, but missed earnings estimates of $2.21 per share when it reported earnings of $2.11 per share.

The stock still moved higher as global paid memberships jumped 12.8% on a year-over-year basis and the company issued upbeat guidance. Netflix said it expects paid net additions to be down sequentially in the first quarter, but up again on a year-over-year basis.

Netflix guided for first-quarter revenue of $9.24 billion and first-quarter EPS of $4.49. The company also raised its 2024 operating margin forecast from a range of 22% to 23% to a new target of 24%.

Several analysts have raised price targets on the stock ahead of earnings. Here’s a look at all of the analyst changes over the last two weeks.

• BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz reiterated Netflix with an Outperform and raised the price target from $638 to $713.

• Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen maintained Netflix with an Outperform and raised the price target from $595 to $685.

• Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris maintained Netflix with a Buy and raised the price target from $600 to $700.

• Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne maintained Netflix with an Overweight and raised the price target from $600 to $700.

• Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion maintained Netflix with a Neutral and raised the price target from $550 to $600.

• Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar maintained Netflix with an Equal-Weight and raised the price target from $475 to $550.

• TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge maintained Netflix with a Buy and raised the price target from $600 to $725.

• JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth maintained Netflix with an Overweight and raised the price target from $610 to $650.

Don’t Miss: Netflix Targets Operating Margin Expansion With Growing AVOD Members And Monetization – Analyst Sees Content Innovation At Scale

NFLX Price Action: Netflix shares were down 0.34% at $611.60 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Airline company Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) is set to report first-quarter financial results before market opens Thursday, April 18.

Here are the key earnings estimates and items to watch.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts estimate Alaska Air will report first-quarter revenue of $2.19 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported revenue of $2.196 billion in last year’s first quarter. Alaska Air has beaten revenue estimates from analysts in three of the past five quarters.

Analysts expect the company to report a loss of $1.05 per share in the first quarter, compared to a loss of 62 cents per share in last year’s first quarter. The company missed analysts’ estimates for earnings per share in three of the past five quarters.

Guidance from the company previously said it expected to hit earnings per share of $3 to $5 for the full fiscal 2024 year.

Related Link: Compensation Package: Boeing Assists Alaska Air with $160M Amid Crisis

Key Items to Watch: Alaska Air is among the airline stocks impacted by safety concerns from airplanes made by Boeing Co (NYSE:BA).

A Jan. 5 flight on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 flown by Alaska Airlines saw a plug door blow and an emergency landing was required. Alaska Airlines was forced to ground its Boeing planes for inspection.

As part of its fourth-quarter earnings, Alaska Air said it had completed final inspections of all its Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes and that a return to service would happen soon.

In December, Alaska Air announced a merger with Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:HA). The merger agreement is now under further investigation as a group of passengers, which includes former travel agents, filed a lawsuit Monday. The lawsuit alleges that the merger could harm air travel competition.

“The current trend toward concentration, the lessening of competition and the tendency to create a monopoly in the airlines industry is unmatched, unparalleled, and dangerous,” the lawsuit said, as shared by CNBC.

The merger is under current antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department. The Justice Department recently blocked a $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, which saw the companies call off the planned tie-up.

An update on the timeline and any comment on the new lawsuit is one item to watch from the first-quarter financial report.

On Wednesday morning, Alaska Airlines saw an issue reported while upgrading its system that calculates weight and balance. The airline’s flights were paused as it worked to resolve the issue.

The earnings report from Alaska Air comes after peers Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) reported quarterly results. Both airlines reported better-than-expected numbers and saw shares rise.

Earlier this week, United Airlines reported earnings per share and revenue, which both came in ahead of Street estimates. The company also expressed confidence in Boeing planes, adding that the grounding of planes cost it around $200 million.

Investors could be looking for the updated financial impact for Alaska Air, with the airline company previously saying it expected a $150 million negative impact from the grounding.

ALK Price Action: Alaska Air shares were up 3.31% at $42.15 on Wednesday at publication versus a 52-week trading range of $30.75 to $57.17. Shares of Alaska Air are up 7.1% year-to-date in 2024.

Read Next: American Airlines Vs. Alaska Air: Which Is The Better Buy Heading Into Q4 Earnings?

Photo: Chad Slattery, Courtesy Alaska Air