Insider Trading 28 June 2013: Apple and Facebook Sellers this Week

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $81.86 million of their stock last week compared to $133.47 million in the week prior. Selling declined sharply with insiders selling $631.1 million of stock last week compared to $1.29 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 down to 7.71. In other words, insiders sold almost 8 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 9.7.

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 June 28, 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:

Some of the insider purchases that did not make the top 5 list but are worth exploring include purchases by two insiders of insurance company Validus Holdings (VR), a purchase by a vice president of Blythe (BTH) and a small purchase by the CEO of Christopher & Banks (CBK).

Given below are the top 5 insider purchases from last week.

1. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $38.15

Chairman & CEO Richard D. Kinder acquired 500,000 shares of this oil and gas pipeline company, paying $35.78 per share for a total amount of $17.9 million. Mr. Kinder increased his stake by 0.22% to 230,259,786 shares with this purchase.

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

2. Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC): $10.8

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer John F. Barry acquired 704,183 shares, paying $10.67 per share for a total amount of $7.5 million. Mr. Barry increased his stake by 26.21% to 3,390,630 shares with this purchase.
• CFO,CCO,Treasurer and Secretary Brian H. Oswald acquired 21,700 shares, paying $10.45 per share for a total amount of $226,765. Mr. Oswald increased his stake by 31.00% to 91,700 shares with this purchase.
• CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Grier M. Eliasek acquired 19,800 shares, paying $10.39 per share for a total amount of $205,700. Mr. Eliasek increased his stake by 16.05% to 143,196 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (SNTA): $4.99

Shares of this biotech company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Bruce Kovner acquired 750,000 shares, paying $4.48 per share for a total amount of $3.4 million.
• President and CEO Safi R. Bahcall acquired 20,000 shares, paying $4.12 per share for a total amount of $82,374. Mr. Bahcall increased his stake by 1.00% to 2,023,135 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): $20.38

Director Frederic M. Poses acquired 152,632 shares of this oil and natural gas producer, paying $19.87 per share for a total amount of $3.03 million. Mr. Poses increased his stake by 28.27% to 692,461 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY): $28.49

Executive Officer Doyle R. Simons acquired 50,000 shares of this timber real estate investment trust (REIT), paying $27.50 per share for a total amount of $1.4 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by a Family Limited Partnership.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Apple Inc. (AAPL): $396.53

Shares of Apple were sold by 2 insiders:

• SVP, General Counsel, Secretary Bruce D. Sewell sold 37,172 shares for $402.05, generating $14.9 million from the sale.
• Senior Vice President Jeffrey E. Williams sold 36,819 shares for $401.76, generating $14.8 million from the sale.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Apple.

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

2. Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD): $42.08

Director James W. Stuckert sold 142,074 shares of this precious metals company for $41.71, generating $5.9 million from the sale. 36,421 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

This sale was related to a margin call.

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

3. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $24.88

Shares of Facebook were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 176,452 shares for $23.72, generating $4.2 million from the sale. 6,696 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• VP, General Counsel & Secretary Theodore Warren Ullyot sold 43,980 shares for $24.50, generating $1.1 million from the sale. 9,800 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Accounting Officer Jas Athwal sold 125 shares for $24.48, generating $3,060 from the sale.

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

4. Leucadia National Corporation (LUK): $26.22

Shares of this conglomerate were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board Joseph S. Steinberg sold 132,000 shares for $25.01, generating $3.3 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Steinberg’s daughter.
• Director Richard G. Dooley sold 50,000 shares for $25.00, generating $1,249,905 from the sale.

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

5. Steelcase Inc. (SCS): $14.58

Shares of this furniture company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director William P. Crawford sold 234,600 shares for $14.4, generating $3.4 million from the sale.
• Chief Executive Officer James P. Hackett sold 3,000 shares for $14.5, generating $43,440 from the sale.

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

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