Insider Trading 22 November 2013: 40 Times More Stock Sold than Purchased

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined with insiders purchasing $56.27 million of their stock last week compared to $190.82 million in the week prior. Selling also declined with insiders selling $2.82 billion of stock last week compared to $3.56 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 40.57. In other words, insiders sold more than 40 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 18.67.

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 November 22, 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. Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (DRC): $57.72

Director William E. Macaulay acquired 52,070 shares of this diversified machinery company, paying $58.99 per share for a total amount of $3.07 million. Mr. Macaulay increased his stake by 30.37% to 223,496 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Macaulay is the CEO and founder of First Reserve, a private equity firm with a focus on the energy sector. Mr. Macaulay purchased these shares on November 18th and gifted 52,070 shares on November 18th and 19th.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Dresser-Rand Group Inc. here.

2. Frank’s International N.V. (FI): $24.14

Shares of this provider of engineered tubular services to the energy industry were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of Supervisory Board, Director, Chief Executive Officer and President, Donald K. Mosing acquired 70,000 shares, paying $25.48 per share for a total amount of $1.78 million. Mr. Mosing increased his stake by 280% to 95,000 shares with this purchase.
• Vice President, CFO & Treasurer, Mark Gerard Margavio acquired 1,000 shares, paying $25.14 per share for a total amount of $25,140. Mr. Margavio increased his stake by 50% to 3,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Frank’s International N.V. here.

3. Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (OHI): $32

Director Bernard J. Korman acquired 32,424 shares of this long-term healthcare REIT, paying $31.24 per share for a total amount of $1.01 million. Mr. Korman increased his stake by 5.62% to 609,341 shares with this purchase.

Omega Healthcare has fared better than most REITs this year and is up nearly 32% this year. Despite these gains, the company still sports a yield of 6%, which is higher than most REITs excluding mortgage REITs.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. here.

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $9.99

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 99,800 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $9.92 per share for a total amount of $989,558. 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. Customers Bancorp, Inc. (CUBI): $16.59

Shares of this regional bank were acquired by 2 insiders:

• CFO & Executive Vice President Robert E. Wahlman acquired 30,000 shares, paying $16.74 per share for a total amount of $502,348.
• Chairman & CEO Jay S. Sidhu acquired 25,800 shares, paying $16.95 per share for a total amount of $437,413. Mr. Sidhu increased his stake by 9.40% to 300,130 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (Q): $43.11

Shares of this biopharmaceutical development services provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• President and COO John D. Ratliff sold 212,140 shares for $42.55, generating $9.03 million from the sale. 97,140 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust and 115,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Exec VP & Chief Admin Officer Michael I. Mortimer sold 200,000 shares for $42.55, generating $8.51 million from the sale.
• Exec VP & Chief Customer & Governance Officer Derek M. Winstanly sold 90,000 shares for $43.03, generating $3.87 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. here.

2. Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO): $30.18

Senior Managing Director Joshua Harris sold 626,291 shares of this private equity firm for $30.22, generating $18.93 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by MJH Investments LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apollo Global Management, LLC here.

3. Ocwen Financial Corp. (OCN): $55

Director Barry N. Wish sold 250,000 shares of this mortgage servicing company for $53.53, generating $13.38 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Wishco, Inc.

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

4. Western Refining, Inc. (WNR): $38.11

President & CEO Jeff A. Stevens sold 337,000 shares of this crude oil refining company for $37.72, generating $12.71 million from the sale.

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

5. WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (WETF): $14.34

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

• Director Michael H. Steinhardt sold 785,176 shares for $13.41, generating $10.53 million from the sale. 292,121 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Chief Executive Officer Jonathan L. Steinberg sold 112,500 shares for $13.57, generating $1.53 million from the sale.

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

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