Insider Trading 28 February 2014: Facebook, Ralph Lauren Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying increased last week with insiders purchasing $42.18 million of their stock compared to $40.91 million in the week prior. Selling declined with insiders selling $1.84 billion of stock last week compared to $2.39 billion 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 decreased to 43.73. In other words, insiders sold almost 44 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 58.51.

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.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio February 28, 2014

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:

Some of the insider purchases that did not make the top 5 list but are worth exploring include a $1 million purchase of home and commercial security firm Allegion PLC (ALLE) by its CEO, a $487,956 purchase by the CFO of convenience store operator The Pantry (PTRY) and purchases by two directors of rental housing software provider RealPage (RP).

1. AGCO Corporation (AGCO): $52.48

Director Mallika Srinivasan acquired 347,959 shares of this farm & construction machinery company, paying $51.60 per share for a total amount of $17.95 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited.

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

2. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $31.85

Shares of this oil & gas pipelines company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder acquired 199,165 shares, paying $32.09 per share for a total amount of $6.39 million. Mr. Kinder increased his stake by 0.09% to 231,887,275 shares with this purchase.
• Vice President, Corporate Development Dax Sanders acquired 1,000 shares, paying $32.35 per share for a total amount of $32,350. Mr. Sanders increased his stake by 0.38% to 266,499 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $11.93

Shares of this asset management company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 130,575 shares, paying $11.55 per share for a total amount of $1.51 million. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 5.35% to 2.57 million shares with this purchase.
• SVP & CFO Nimish S. Bhatt acquired 337 shares, paying $11.45 per share for a total amount of $3,858. Mr. Bhatt increased his stake by 0.38% to 88,689 shares with this purchase.
• Director Richard W. Gilbert acquired 166 shares, paying $11.45 per share for a total amount of $1,900. Mr. Gilbert increased his stake by 0.80% to 20,916 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Calamos Asset Management Inc. here.

4. Liquidity Services, Inc. (LQDT): $25.62

Director Jaime Mateus-Tique acquired 50,000 shares of this online auction company, paying $24.91 per share for a total amount of $1.25 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

This follows a 30,000 share purchase by the same insider that we reported on last week.

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

5. Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. (ONTX): $8.5

Director Michael B. Hoffman acquired 143,480 shares of this biotech company, paying $8.47 per share for a total amount of $1.22 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL): $161.08

Shares of this apparel chain were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chairman & CEO Ralph Lauren sold 3,000,000 shares for $158.15, generating $474.45 million from the sale.
• Director Robert C. Wright sold 4,452 shares for $160.12, generating $712,854 from the sale.These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Arnold H. Aronson sold 1,608 shares for $162.96, generating $262,040 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 Ralph Lauren Corporation here.

2. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $68.46

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 283,334 shares for $70.58, generating $19.99 million from the sale.
• Chief Technology Officer Michael Todd Schroepfer sold 25,000 shares for $68.75, generating $1.72 million from the sale.

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

3. WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (WETF): $15.58

Shares of this ETF focused asset management company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Michael H. Steinhardt sold 1,032,661 shares for $15.11, generating $15.6 million from the sale.
• Chief Executive Officer Jonathan L. Steinberg sold 112,500 shares for $14.88, generating $1.67 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Vice Chairman Bruce I. Lavine sold 82,404 shares for $14.85, generating $1.22 million from the sale.

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

4. The Blackstone Group L.P. (BX): $33.35

Vice Chairman Tomilson J. Hill sold 450,000 shares of this asset management company for $32.42, generating $14.59 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Blackstone Group L.P. here.

5. Masco Corporation (MAS): $23.35

Director Richard A. Manoogian sold 500,000 shares of this building materials company for $22.45, generating $11.22 million from the sale.

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

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

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