Insider Trading 18 January 2013: Facebook Insiders Sell More Shares

by Asif Suria

Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $111.09 million of their stock last week compared to $83 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with

insiders selling $385.32 million of stock last week compared to $220.36 million in the week prior.

Sell/Buy Ratio: The insider Sell/Buy ratio is calculated by dividing the total insider sales in a given week by total insider purchases that week. The adjusted ratio for last week went up to 3.47. In other words, insiders sold more than 3 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 2.65.

We are calculating an adjusted ratio by removing transactions by funds and companies and trying as best as possible only to retain information about insiders and 10% owners who are not funds or companies.

A majority of the insider buying was related to Carl Icahn’s $100 million purchase of CVR Refining (CVRR), which was spun out of CVR Energy (CVI) last week.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio January 18, 2013

Note: As mentioned in the first post in this series, certain industries have their preferred metrics such as same store sales for retailers, funds from operations (FFO) for REITs and revenue per available room (RevPAR) for hotels that provide a better basis for comparison than simple valuation metrics. However metrics like Price/Earnings, Price/Sales and Enterprise Value/EBITDA included below should provide a good starting point for analyzing the majority of stocks.

Notable Insider Buys:

1. Agree Realty Corp. (ADC): $28.25

Director John Rakolta Jr. acquired 50,000 shares of this retail REIT, paying $27.25 per share for a total amount of $1.36 million. Mr. Rakolta doubled his stake to 100,000 shares with this purchase. There have been nothing but insider purchases at Agree over the last two years. Despite the recent run up in the stock price, the stock still yields 5.7%, well above the average yield of 3.32% of retail REITs and 4.75% yield of free standing retail REITs.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Agree Realty Corp. here.

2. Brown-Forman Corporation (BFA): $64.74

Shares of this alcoholic beverages company were acquired by two insiders:

• 10% Owner J. McCauley Brown acquired 15,550 shares, paying $63.79 per share for a total amount of $991,974. These shares were purchased indirectly through various trusts.
• Executive Vice President Jill Ackerman Jones acquired 2,060 shares, paying $63.44 per share for a total amount of $130,686.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Brown-Forman Corporation here.

3. Synageva BioPharma Corp. (GEVA): $50.93

Director Thomas J. Tisch acquired 21,039 shares of this biotech company, paying $47.53 per share for a total amount of $999,984. These shares were purchased indirectly through trusts.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Synageva BioPharma Corp. here.

4. NuStar Energy L.P. (NS): $50.69

EVP – Administration Mary Rose Brown acquired 14,900 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $40.21 per share for a total amount of $599,129. Ms. Brown increased her stake by 63.84% to 38,240 shares with this purchase. These are old transactions that occurred in  November, 2012 but were reported last week.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NuStar Energy L.P. here.

5. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI): $45.38

Director William M. Lewis Jr. acquired 11,000 shares of this restaurant chain, paying $44.91 per share for a total amount of $494,040. Mr. Lewis increased his stake by 27.62% to 50,823 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Darden Restaurants, Inc. here.

You can view the full list of purchases from this Insider Buying page.

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Tiffany & Co. (TIF): $63.8

Shares of this luxury jewelry retailer were sold by 5 insiders:

• Director Peter W. May sold 993,500 shares for $61.16, generating $60.77 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a fund.
• Chairman and CEO Michael Joseph Kowalski sold 100,000 shares for $63.38, generating $6.34 million from the sale.
• Principal Chief Operating Officer James N. Fernandez sold 12,000 shares for $62.27, generating $747,245 from the sale.
• Senior Vice President Andrew W. Hart sold 1,038 shares for $60.95, generating $63,269 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Tiffany & Co. here.

2. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $29.66

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 352,903 shares for $30.11, generating $10.63 million from the sale. 13,392 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• VP Engineering Michael Todd Schroepfer sold 109,999 shares for $31.65, generating $3.48 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Facebook, Inc. here.

3. Ross Stores Inc. (ROST): $58.22

Vice Chairman and CEO Michael Balmuth sold 222,388 shares of this apparel chain for $56.33, generating $12.53 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ross Stores Inc. here.

4. EnerSys (ENS): $40.44

Chairman, President & CEO John D. Craig sold 125,000 shares of this industrial batteries manufacturer for $40.33, generating $5.04 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for EnerSys here.

5. Team, Inc. (TISI): $42.61

Shares of this industrial maintenance and construction services provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Louis A. Waters sold 50,000 shares for $41.93, generating $2.09 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President David C. Palmore sold 25,000 shares for $41.38, generating $1.03 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Team, Inc. here.

You can view the full list of sales from this Insider Sales page.