Insider Trading 07 December 2012: Amazon CEO Sells Nearly $200 Million of Amazon Shares

by Asif Suria

Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $41.43 million of their stock last week compared to $31.13 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $2.32 billion of stock last week compared to $1.94 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 dropped to 55.88. In other words, insiders sold almost 56 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 62.4.

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 December 7, 2012

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:

There were several noteworthy insider purchases this week that did not make the cut because they were not the 5 largest purchases. The ones worth mentioning include a small 23,010 share purchase by the COO of Hewlett Packard (HPQ) after the stock hit a multi-year low last month, an 8,000 share purchase worth nearly half a million dollars by the Controller of coal producer Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) and purchases of Inphi Corporation (IPHI) by both its CEO and CFO.

1. PHI Inc. (PHII): $31.39

Chief Executive Officer Alton Anthony Gonsoulin Jr. acquired 503,665 shares of this transportation services provider, paying $31.78 per share for a total amount of $16 million. Mr. Gonsoulin increased his stake by 32.75% to 2,041,702 shares with this purchase.

This purchase is remarkable because it represents a purchase that is nearly 13 times Mr. Gonsoulin’s annual pay of $1.25 million and because it was an open market purchase of a company that sees its stock trade less than 1,000 shares most trading days. Trading at book value and over 8 times EBITDA, the stock isn’t exactly cheap given its low single digit profit margin.

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

2. AGCO Corporation (AGCO): $46.6

Director Mallika Srinivasan acquired 138,591 shares of this farm & construction machinery company, paying $45.67 per share for a total amount of $6.33 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited.

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

3. CYS Investments Inc. (CYS): $12.96

Director Jeffrey Hughes acquired 72,600 shares of this  mortgage REIT , paying $12.76 per share for a total amount of $926,314. Mr. Hughes increased his stake by 284.04% to 98,160 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for N/A here.

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $4.38

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 142,500 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $4.39 per share for a total amount of $625,744. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

5. Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (HTA): $9.99

Shares of this healthcare REIT were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Director Larry Mathis acquired 25,000 shares, paying $10.02 per share for a total amount of $250,550. Mr. Mathis increased his stake by 58.11% to 68,024 shares with this purchase.
• Director Gary T. Wescombe acquired 20,000 shares, paying $10.10 per share for a total amount of $202,000. Mr. Wescombe increased his stake by 29.63% to 87,500 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Executive Officer Scott D. Peters acquired 10,000 shares, paying $9.87 per share for a total amount of $98,700. Mr. Peters increased his stake by 1.92% to 530,000 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Financial Officer Kellie S. Pruitt acquired 5,000 shares, paying $9.95 per share for a total amount of $49,750. Ms. Pruitt increased her stake by 4.05% to 128,464 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): $253.268

Chairman, CEO and President Jeffrey P. Bezos sold 790,102 shares of Amazon for $250.02, generating $197.54 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Amazon.com Inc. here.

2. Progressive Corp. (PGR): $21.48

Chairman of Board Peter B. Lewis sold 1,421,086 shares of this insurance company for $21.41, generating $30.42 million from the sale.

This is the second week in a row we have reported on sales by Mr. Lewis.

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

3. Garmin Ltd. (GRMN): $41.7

Shares of this GPS manufacturer were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Min H. Kao sold 705,800 shares for $41.07, generating $28.99 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Kao’s children.
• Vice President – Operations Brian James Pokorny sold 5,000 shares for $41.69, generating $208,450 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• VP, Man. Director – Aviation Philip Straub sold 5,000 shares for $39.02, generating $195,100 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 Garmin Ltd. here.

4. Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN): $127.68

Shares of this asset management company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board Charles B. Johnson sold 100,000 shares for $128.39, generating $12.84 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through an IRA.
• CEO and President Gregory E. Johnson sold 20,000 shares for $127.40, generating $2.55 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a Limited Partnership.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Franklin Resources Inc. here.

5. Texas Capital BancShares Inc. (TCBI): $44.55

Shares of this regional bank were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director James R. Holland Jr. sold 216,836 shares for $44.85, generating $9.72 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Lamar Hunt Trust Estate, of which Mr. Holland is Trustee.
• Chief Executive Officer George F. Jones Jr. sold 60,000 shares for $44.80, generating $2.69 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by G&M Partners Ltd., of which Mr. Jones is the Managing General Partner.
• Director Frederick B. Hegi Jr. sold 5,315 shares for $44.94, generating $238,856 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 Texas Capital BancShares Inc. here.

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