Insider Trading 21 February 2014: Bill Gates Sells Another $268 Million of Microsoft

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased last week with insiders purchasing $40.91 million of their stock compared to $51.82 million in the week prior. Selling increased with insiders selling $2.39 billion of stock last week compared to $1.68 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 58.51. In other words, insiders sold more than 58 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 32.52. 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 February 21, 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. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $33.03

Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder acquired 100,000 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $32.97 per share for a total amount of $3.29 million. Mr. Kinder increased his stake by 0.04% to 231,688,110 shares with this purchase.

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

2. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $11.44

Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 176,310 shares of this asset management company, paying $11.55 per share for a total amount of $2.04 million. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 7.79% to 2,440,520 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Liquidity Services, Inc. (LQDT): $24.95

Director Jaime Mateus-Tique acquired 30,000 shares of this online auction company, paying $24.68 per share for a total amount of $740,443. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

Liquidity Services has seen its stock drop a lot over the last two years in a rising market. The stock has declined steadily from a high of over $65 in May 2012. Trading for less than 8 times EBITDA with a strong balance sheet, the company is worth exploring further.

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

4. Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (APL): $31.58

Chairman Edward E. Cohen acquired 10,000 shares of this natural gas company, paying $30.23 per share for a total amount of $302,270. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. here.

5. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.83

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 68,400 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $8.62 per share for a total amount of $589,948. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $37.98

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Bill Gates sold 7,117,000 shares for $37.67, generating $268.1 million from the sale.
• EVP, Business Development/Evangelism Anthony John Bates sold 14,000 shares for $37.52, generating $525,308 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 Microsoft Corporation here.

2. Proto Labs, Inc. (PRLB): $79.7

Director Lawrence J. Lukis sold 1,000,000 shares of this molded plastic parts producer for $76.00, generating $76 million from the sale.

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

3. Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (GBDC): $19.07

Chief Executive Officer David Golub sold 1,135,853 shares of this investment company for $18.40, generating $20.89 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Golub Capital Company.

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

4. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $69.28

Shares of this software-as-a-service provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Charles Noell III sold 150,000 shares for $67.28, generating $10.09 million from the sale.
• SVP Worldwide Sales & Services David Schneider sold 30,000 shares for $67.48, generating $2.02 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP, Development & Customer Support Daniel McGee sold 10,000 shares for $67.49, generating $674,881 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 ServiceNow, Inc. here.

5. Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP): $95.99

Shares of this natural gas production and pipeline company were sold by 2 insiders:

• President and COO Michael A. Heim sold 64,461 shares for $96.97, generating $6.25 million from the sale. 30,534 of these shares were sold indirectly through various trusts.
• Senior VP, CFO and Treasurer Matthew J. Meloy sold 15,459 shares for $96.07, generating $1.49 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Targa Resources Corp. here.

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

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