Insider Trading 26 July 2013: Apple Insiders Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $30.91 million of their stock last week compared to $124.18 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand increased sharply with insiders selling $2.02 billion of stock last week compared to $1.25 billion in the week prior. A large part of the increase in insider selling was driven by hedge fund manager Dan Loeb selling $1.2 billion worth of Yahoo (YHOO) stock, a majority of which was purchased by Yahoo.

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 increased to 65.4.In other words, insiders sold more than 65 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 10.08.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 July 26, 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. Safeway Inc. (SWY): $25.98

Shares of this grocery store chain were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Frank C. Herringer acquired 18,000 shares, paying $25.64 per share for a total amount of $461,580. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Senior Vice President David F. Bond acquired 5,000 shares, paying $26.10 per share for a total amount of $130,500. Mr. Bond increased his stake by 19.47% to 30,678 shares with this purchase.

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

2. eBay Inc. (EBAY): $52.25

Director Kathleen C. Mitic acquired 5,000 shares of eBay, paying $51.61 per share for a total amount of $258,050.

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

3. Select Comfort Corporation (SCSS): $22.35

Director Michael J. Harrison acquired 10,000 shares of this mattress manufacturer, paying $22.73 per share for a total amount of $227,294. Mr. Harrison increased his stake by 247.04% to 14,048 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (AXAS): $2.4

Director Franklin A. Burke acquired 70,003 shares of this independent oil & gas company, paying $2.39 per share for a total amount of $167,507. Mr. Burke increased his stake by 2.21% to 3,241,141 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR): $14.93

Director Howard Wolf acquired 11,000 shares of this oil and gas land drilling contractor, paying $14.90 per share for a total amount of $163,847. Mr. Wolf increased his stake by 40.74% to 38,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Nabors Industries Ltd. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Apple Inc. (AAPL): $440.99

Senior Vice President, CFO Peter Oppenheimer sold 37,172 shares of Apple for $440.31, generating $16.4 million from the sale.

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

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Apple.

2. CVB Financial Corp. (CVBF): $13.27

Shares of this regional bank were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director George A. Borba Jr. sold 651,387 shares for $13.32, generating $8.7 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Director San Vaccaro sold 93,800 shares for $13.63, generating $1.3 million from the sale.

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

3. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH): $72.21

Shares of this healthcare services provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Richard T. Burke sold 100,000 shares for $72.94, generating $7.3 million from the sale.
• Director William C. Ballard Jr. sold 10,000 shares for $72.61, generating $726,102 from the sale.These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Douglas W. Leatherdale sold 10,000 shares for $71.17, generating $711,692 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated here.

4. Packaging Corporation of America (PKG): $52.9

Shares of this packaging products company were sold by 5 insiders:

• CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 85,000 shares for $52.10, generating $4.4 million from the sale.
• Senior VP & CFO Richard B. West sold 40,500 shares for $52.06, generating $2.1 million from the sale. 10,500 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Executive VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,560 shares for $53.13, generating $773,567 from the sale.
• SVP Thomas W.H. Walton sold 13,907 shares for $52.24, generating $726,479 from the sale.
• SVP Kent A. Pflederer sold 1,250 shares for $52.12, generating $65,148 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 Packaging Corporation of America here.

5. EPAM Systems, Inc. (EPAM): $29.21

CEO, President, Chairman Arkadiy Dobkin sold 207,482 shares of this software development services company for $29.11, generating $6.04 million from the sale.

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

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