I don't know about you, but my mother always made me the guinea pig when it came to taste-testing her food for dinner parties.

I didn't mind helping my mother out. But when it comes to investing, it's smart to pick out companies whose leaders are willing to eat alongside me, as it were, by owning a big equity stake in the company. And I'm not talking about options, either. Managers who own real shares, right now, are more likely to have strong incentives to ensure the company remains on solid financial footing and maintains a proper strategic focus.

After all, some of the best companies in the world have historically exhibited high levels of insider ownership and strong, visionary leadership: Some of the more conspicuous successes include legends like Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway .

Actions speak louder than words, or so I hear
A CEO or CFO buying up shares clearly believes in the future of the company. On the flip side, while selling is sometimes a negative signal, it could simply mean that the executives need a few bucks for personal expenses.

To identify potentially rewarding stocks with huge insider stakes, I used the Motley Fool's CAPS screening tool to search for companies with:

Voila! Here are some of the companies that popped out when I ran the screen today:

Company

Market Cap
(in millions)

Insider Ownership

AmTrust Financial Services (Nasdaq: AFSI)

$688.2

59.8%

Cogent (Nasdaq: COGT)

$970.8

47.9%

Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR)

$492.0

33.7%

Morningstar (Nasdaq: MORN)

$2,282.3 Continued...