SAN FRANCISCO: Dell Inc. reported that Michael Dell, the PC maker's founder and chief executive, has bought nearly $100 million in shares, which recently have begun to bounce back from a six-year low.

The stock had slipped by about 10 percent in recent weeks, but is up to $22.81 from a low of $18.13 on April 15.

Late Tuesday, Michael Dell filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the purchase of about 4.5 million of the company's shares for $99.7 million. The shares were purchased between June 27 and July 1 at an average price of $22.14, according to the filing.

The transaction was the largest insider purchase on record at the company, according to data from Thomson Reuters. It also was the largest purchase ever for Dell himself, who last bought 2.9 million shares in April 2006 — when the stock was trading at a similar range.

''You can't read too much into these things. Dell has done some insider buying in the past,'' said Brent Bracelin of Pacific Crest, who has an outperform rating on the stock. ''But when you look at this business, the stock is bouncing off a six-year low, and they just had their highest quarterly earnings in the
last two and a half years. Dell is putting his own money into the business, and that's why the stock is up.''

As a company, Dell has been engaged in a large-scale turnaround effort after it began to lose market share to rivals; in addition, sales growth has slowed. It's undertaken layoffs, shaken up the executive ranks and is shifting away from the direct-build model that it has used since its inception.

Dell's most recent quarter showed some early signs that the turnaround is working. Earnings were up 4 percent from the previous year, beating Wall Street's projections. Product shipments grew 22 percent over the same period.

But the stock has been largely flat since the last report. Investors have worried that the slowing U.S. economy could pinch the sales of large tech firms as consumers and businesses tighten their belts.

Michael Dell already was the company's largest shareholder. His recent share purchase increased his overall stake by about 2 percent to 12.3 percent of outstanding Dell shares.

''He's already got a lot of skin in the game,'' according to Jason Noland of Robert W. Baird, who rates the shares as neutral. ''It's not going to change his wealth much, but this signals that he's a believer in the turnaround.''