Insider Trading 29 November 2013: Green Mountain Coffee, JC Penney Buying

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined sharply with insiders purchasing $9.99 million of their stock last week compared to $56.27 million in the week prior. Selling also declined with insiders selling $1.73 billion of stock last week compared to $2.82 billion in the week prior. The last time insider buying was so anemic was the week ending in April 27, 2012. That coincided with the peak of the first quarter earnings season and hence both insider buying and selling were muted.

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 173.3. In other words, insiders sold more than 173 times as much stock as they purchased.

The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 40.57. 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 29, 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. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR): $67.38

Shares of this specialty coffee company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Norman H. Wesley acquired 10,000 shares, paying $68.25 per share for a total amount of $682,500. Mr. Wesley increased his stake by 193.65% to 15,164 shares with this purchase. 5,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Director A. D. Mackay acquired 10,000 shares, paying $69.51 per share for a total amount of $695,094. Mr. Mackay increased his stake by 61.98% to 26,135 shares with this purchase.
• Director Robert Allan Steele acquired 2,000 shares, paying $64.58 per share for a total amount of $129,164. These shares were acquired indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. here.

2. Murphy USA Inc. (MUSA): $45.25

Director Claiborne P. Deming acquired 25,000 shares of this gas stations operator, paying $44.94 per share for a total amount of $1.12 million. Mr. Deming increased his stake by 13.10% to 215,832 shares with this purchase.

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

3. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP): $10.19

Chief Executive Officer Myron E. Ullman III acquired 112,000 shares of this department stores chain, paying $8.95 per share for a total amount of $1 million.

The last insider purchase at JCP was a $2 million purchase by a director in November 2012. Quite clearly the directory was much too early. The stock was up more than 10% this week but it remains to be seen if J. C. Penny can turn itself around with a leveraged balance sheet and negative operating cash flow.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for J. C. Penney Company, Inc. here.

4. Horizon Pharma, Inc. (HZNP): $7.22

Director Jeffrey W. Bird acquired 151,089 shares of this drug manufacturer, paying $6.24 per share for a total amount of $942,251. 104,670 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Sutter Hill Ventures and 46,419 shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

5. Agree Realty Corp. (ADC): $29.3

Director John Rakolta Jr. acquired 20,000 shares of this retail REIT, paying $29.80 per share for a total amount of $596,000. Mr. Rakolta increased his stake by 15.93% to 145,571 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Pandora Media, Inc. (P): $28.4

Director Peter Chernin sold 568,815 shares of Pandora for $28.64, generating $16.29 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by The Chernin Group LLC.

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

2. Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO): $30.19

Senior Managing Director Joshua Harris sold 445,343 shares of this investment manager for $30.28, generating $13.48 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. Stifel Financial Corp. (SF): $44.77

Shares of this investment brokerage were sold by 6 insiders:

• Director Thomas W. Weisel sold 100,600 shares for $45.63, generating $4.59 million from the sale.
• CEO Ronald J. Kruszewski sold 50,000 shares for $46.08, generating $2.3 million from the sale.
• Director Victor Nesi sold 30,000 shares for $45.32, generating $1.36 million from the sale.
• Director Strategic Planning & Tech David D. Sliney sold 15,000 shares for $45.85, generating $687,750 from the sale.
• Director James M. Oates sold 6,000 shares for $44.95, generating $269,700 from the sale.
• Director John P. Dubinsky sold 4,000 shares for $45.15, generating $180,600 from the sale.

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

4. ANN INC. (ANN): $35.67

Shares of this apparel chain were sold by 2 insiders:

• Brand President, Ann Taylor Brian E. Lynch sold 153,293 shares for $36.44, generating $5.59 million from the sale. 69,346 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• President & CEO Katherine Lawther Krill sold 54,282 shares for $36.40, generating $1.98 million from the sale. 4,282 of 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 ANN INC. here.

5. NVR, Inc. (NVR): $969.98

Chief Executive Officer Paul C. Saville sold 7,500 shares of this home builder for $983.47, generating $7.38 million from the sale.

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

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