Sequoia, Starboard Buy 100M Worth of 3 Stocks

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Insider Buying: Smart Money Just Spent +$100M on These 3 Stocks

Written by Leo Miller on January 1, 2026 

A trifecta of displays show rising stock charts, symbolizing institutional investor confidence and recent large-scale stock purchases.

Summary

  • DoorDash saw a rare nine-figure open-market buy tied to Sequoia Capital, a strong confidence signal—but it should be weighed against routine executive selling. 
  • Kenvue’s recent buying looks less like a standalone consumer-health bet and more like a view on the pending Kimberly-Clark deal and closing dynamics. 
  • Kymera’s $172 million add from Baker Bros followed encouraging KT-621 trial data, but the program is still early and carries typical clinical-stage biotech risk.

Insider buying can be one of the cleanest “follow-the-money” signals in the market. Over the past month or so, three names have stood out for $100 million-plus buying tied to prominent funds and well-known professional investors. 

The takeaway: these trades don’t guarantee upside on their own, but they can highlight where sophisticated capital sees mispriced risk—or where a catalyst (like a merger) may be creating an opportunity.

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Leading Venture Firm Makes $100 Million DoorDash Purchase

First up is the delivery platform DoorDash (NASDAQ: DASH). On Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, board member Alfred Lin purchased a total of just over $100 million worth of DoorDash shares.

As detailed in Lin’s Form 4 SEC filings, he did not purchase the shares for himself.

Column 7 of these filings shows that the beneficial ownership of these purchases goes to an investment fund managed by Sequoia Capital, one of the world’s most well-known venture investors, of which Lin is a partner.

This detail supports the bullish interpretation of these purchases. Sequoia made these purchases with its clients in mind.

Since investing other people’s money typically invites a higher level of scrutiny than investing one’s own money, Sequoia will not have made these purchases lightly.

That said, investors should read the signal with context. Since these purchases, DoorDash insiders have also sold around $29.5 million worth of the stock. But all of them came under 10b5-1 plans, and the predetermined nature of 10b5-1 sales significantly limits their bearish implications.

Starboard Buys KVUE Amid Kimberly-Clark Deal

The $33 billion consumer staples stock Kenvue (NYSE: KVUE) has also seen significant insider buying recently. On Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, board member Jeffrey C. Smith purchased a total of around $111 million worth of Kenvue shares, with investment fund Starboard Value LP to take beneficial ownership of the shares.

Kenvue owns a variety of over-the-counter drugs and personal care products, including Tylenol, Band-Aid, and Neutrogena.

On Nov. 3, Kenvue announced its acquisition by consumer staples giant Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ: KMB) in a cash-and-stock deal (with the two parties guiding toward a closing in the second half of 2026, pending approval). 

Kenvue shareholders will be partially compensated with Kimberly-Clark shares, and the value they will receive is largely dependent on Kimberly-Clark’s price prior to the deal’s closing.

With this in mind, the recent insider purchases are more of a bet on Kimberly-Clark than Kenvue itself. Kimberly-Clark shares are down nearly 15% on the Nov. 3announcement. Starboard likely sees this sell-off as overblown and believes that Kimberly-Clark will stage a recovery before the deal closes. This would increase the value that Kenvue investors—like Starboard—receive when the deal goes through. 

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Biotech Investor Ups KYMR Position Significantly After Positive Trial Data

Last up is Kymera Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KYMR), which has seen the most insider buying of any stock in the last 30 days. This comes as Baker Bros. Advisors LP purchased $172.5 million worth of shares of the clinical-stage biotech company on Dec. 11. According to its latest 13F filing, Baker Bros. owns a portfolio composed almost solely of biotech stocks.

Baker Bros.’ purchase came just days after Kymera shares surged almost 42% on Dec. 8. That day, Kymera released positive results for its experimental drug KT-621, which is being developed to treat atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema.

Baker Bros. seems to have doubled down on its investment in Kymera in response.

The company added just over 2 million Kymera shares, increasing its position by around 30%, a clear vote of confidence from this institutional investor.

KT-621’s latest trial results were only in a Phase 1b study, so the drug still has a very long way to go before sniffing commercial viability. At least one institution, though, believes the company has a bright future. 

Investors should note that Kymera has also seen around $21.6 million worth of non-10b5-1 plan sales since it released these results, a significant counter to the bullish Baker Bros. purchase that investors will take into consideration.

Smart Money Sends Optimistic Signals for DASH, KVUE, and KYMR

Clearly, the smart money is placing significant bets on DASH, KVUE, and KYMR. While investors should not take these purchases in isolation, they are solid bullish indicators for these three stocks.

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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