Insider Trading 10 January 2014: Facebook Selling Continues

by Asif Suria

Insider buying was dismal last week with insiders purchasing $3.38 million of their stock compared to $9.42 million in the week prior. This is not entirely unexpected as purchases do dry up during the first few weeks of each quarter ahead of earnings. Selling increased with insiders selling $702.52 million of stock last week compared to $425.98 million 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 207.91.

In other words, insiders sold almost 208 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at a record 45.23. 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 January 10, 2014

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. American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. (ARCPP): $20.39

Shares of this commercial real estate company were acquired by 7 insiders:

• Chairman and CEO Nicholas S. Schorsch acquired 14,690 shares, paying $20.37 per share for a total amount of $299,228. Mr. Schorsch increased his stake by 437.98% to 18,044 shares with this purchase.
• President David S. Kay acquired 7,500 shares, paying $20.34 per share for a total amount of $152,567.
• EVP & Chief Investment Officer Peter M. Budko acquired 5,000 shares, paying $20.36 per share for a total amount of $101,803. Mr. Budko increased his stake by 578.03% to 5,865 shares with this purchase.
• EVP, Treasurer, Secretary and CFO Brian S. Block acquired 5,000 shares, paying $20.34 per share for a total amount of $101,683. Mr. Block increased his stake by 3144.65% to 5,159 shares with this purchase.
• Director Edward M. Weil Jr. acquired 4,900 shares, paying $20.34 per share for a total amount of $99,649. Mr. Weil increased his stake by 2634.41% to 5,086 shares with this purchase.
• Director William M. Kahane acquired 4,900 shares, paying $20.34 per share for a total amount of $99,649. Mr. Kahane increased his stake by 687.24% to 5,613 shares with this purchase.
• Director Scott J. Bowman acquired 5,000 shares, paying $20.42 per share for a total amount of $102,100. Mr. Bowman increased his stake by -250.00% to 3,000 shares with this purchase.

All of these were purchases of series F redeemable preferred stock.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. here.

2. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.63

Shares of this medical devices and drug development company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 35,900 shares, paying $8.46 per share for a total amount of $303,555. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.
• Director John A. Paganelli acquired 10,000 shares, paying $8.45 per share for a total amount of $84,472. Mr. Paganelli increased his stake by 4.64% to 225,399 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Actuant Corporation (ATU): $36.05

Executive VP Industrial Segment Mark Sefcik acquired 7,000 shares of this diversified machinery company, paying $35.93 per share for a total amount of $251,510. Mr. Sefcik increased his stake by 20.88% to 40,532 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI): $19.2

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board of Directors Sean C Day acquired 3,969 shares, paying $19.33 per share for a total amount of $76,721.
• Director Eugene D Ewing acquired 2,938 shares, paying $19.33 per share for a total amount of $56,792.
• Director Harold S Edwards acquired 2,938 shares, paying $19.33 per share for a total amount of $56,792.
• Director Gordon M Burns acquired 2,938 shares, paying $19.33 per share for a total amount of $56,792.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Compass Diversified Holdings here.

5. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $11.69

Chairman, CEO & Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos acquired 12,187 shares of this asset management company, paying $11.49 per share for a total amount of $140,039. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 0.66% to 1,847,193 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Calamos Asset Management Inc. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $57.94

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 283,334 shares for $57.89, generating $16.4 million from the sale.
• VP Marketing & Business Partnerships David B. Fischer sold 36,000 shares for $58.13, generating $2.09 million from the sale.

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

2. Select Medical Holdings Corporation (SEM): $10.56

Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Robert A. Ortenzio sold 1,564,345 shares of this hospital chain for $11.20, generating $17.52 million from the sale. 782,245 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

3. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): $60.65

Shares of this network security company were sold by 3 insiders:

• CTO Nir Zuk sold 110,000 shares for $55.47, generating $6.1 million from the sale.
• Director Asheem Chandna sold 70,000 shares for $60.06, generating $4.2 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• VP, Engineering Rajiv Batra sold 55,000 shares for $55.18, generating $3.03 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. here.

4. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $59.38

Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 162,000 shares of this software-as-a-service provider for $57.06, generating $9.24 million from the sale. 12,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Frederic’s spouse.

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

5. Ambarella, Inc. (AMBA): $29.31

Shares of this video compression and image processing solutions provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• President and CEO Feng-Ming Wang sold 105,500 shares for $33.02, generating $3.48 million from the sale. 29,500 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Technology Officer Leslie Kohn sold 70,000 shares for $33.02, generating $2.31 million from the sale.
• VP, Marketing and Business Development Christopher Day sold 40,000 shares for $33.03, generating $1.32 million 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 Ambarella, Inc. here.

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

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