Insider Trading 23 August 2013: Starbucks Buying

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $39.95 million of their stock last week compared to $94.72 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased sharply with insiders selling $742.11 million of stock last week compared to $1.43 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 increased to 18.57. In other words, insiders sold more than 18 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 15.14.

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 August 23, 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. Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): $71.97

Director Mellody L. Hobson acquired 141,573 shares of Starbucks, paying $70.60 per share for a total amount of $9.99 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

Mellody Hobson is the wife of filmmaker George Lucas and is the president of of Ariel Investments, an investment firm with $6.3 billion in assets.

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

2. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY): $11.42

Shares of this diversified REIT were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of Board & CEO Wellington Denahan acquired 181,818 shares, paying $10.96 per share for a total amount of $1.99 million. Mr. Denahan increased his stake by 17.94% to 1,195,081 shares with this purchase.
• Director Kevin Brady acquired 9,000 shares, paying $11.01 per share for a total amount of $99,090. These shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Brady’s mother.

After the big crash in mortgage REITs it is interesting to see this cluster purchase by insiders of Annaly.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Annaly Capital Management, Inc. here.

3. Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (AHH): $9.68

Shares of this diversified REIT were acquired by 3 insiders:

• President, CEO Louis S. Haddad acquired 50,000 shares, paying $9.20 per share for a total amount of $460,000. Mr. Haddad increased his stake by 5000.00% to 51,000 shares with this purchase.
• Director Daniel A. Hoffler acquired 50,000 shares, paying $9.24 per share for a total amount of $462,000. Mr. Hoffler increased his stake by 1149.95% to 54,348 shares with this purchase.
• Director A Russell Kirk acquired 27,219 shares, paying $9.27 per share for a total amount of $252,262. Mr. Kirk increased his stake by 782.60% to 30,697 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Emerge Energy Services LP (EMES): $27.95

Shares of this energy services provider were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Victor L. Vescovo acquired 30,000 shares, paying $29.48 per share for a total amount of $884,400. Mr. Vescovo increased his stake by 30.07% to 129,752 shares with this purchase.
• CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Robert Lane acquired 300 shares, paying $27.97 per share for a total amount of $8,391. Mr. Lane increased his stake by 20.00% to 1,800 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Emerge Energy Services LP Commo here.

5. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (MITT): $17.53

Chief Executive Officer David N. Roberts acquired 49,519 shares of this diversified REIT, paying $16.23 per share for a total amount of $803,711. Mr. Roberts increased his stake by 66.03% to 124,519 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. (LL): $99.53

Chairman of the Board; Founder Thomas D. Sullivan sold 100,000 shares of this hardware flooring company for $101.59, generating $10.16 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. here.

2. Ashland Inc. (ASH): $87.41

Shares of this specialty chemicals company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer James J. Obrien sold 87,712 shares for $86.61, generating $7.59 million from the sale.
• Vice President Susan B. Esler sold 3,588 shares for $87.24, generating $313,017 from the sale.

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

3. Actavis, Inc. (ACT): $133.89

Shares of this drugs manufacturer were sold by 2 insiders:

• President & CEO Paul Bisaro sold 50,000 shares for $135.30, generating $6.77 million from the sale.
• President of Anda, Inc. Albert Paonessa III sold 5,476 shares for $135.89, generating $744,113 from the sale.

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

4. Evercore Partners Inc. (EVR): $46.68

Executive Chairman Roger C. Altman sold 150,175 shares of this asset management company for $46.61, generating $6.99 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

5. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS): $45.71

Director William P. Foley II sold 150,000 shares of this banking software provider for $46.06, generating $6.91 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. here.

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