Insider Trading 11 April 2014: Buying Improved This Week

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased last week with insiders purchasing $41.55 million of their stock compared to $49.28 million in the week prior. Selling plunged with insiders selling $530.53 million of stock last week compared to $1.65 billion in the week prior. We often see a sharp decline in insider transactions in the first few weeks of every quarter and this decline could be attributed to insiders reluctance to trade ahead of earnings.

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 dropped down to 12.77. In other words, insiders sold nearly 13 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 33.41.

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 April 11, 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:

Some of the insider purchases that did not make the top 5 list but are worth exploring include$30.21 million in additional purchases of the truck and diesel engine manufacturer Navistar International (NAV) by its Director Mark Rachesky and an additional purchase of the biotech company Retrophin (RTRX) by its CEO Martin Shkreli.

1. Ameresco, Inc. (AMRC): $7.08

President and CEO George P. Sakellaris acquired 111,995 shares of this energy efficiency solutions provider, paying $7.22 per share for a total amount of $808,965. Mr. Sakellaris increased his stake by 4.42% to 2,647,621 shares with this purchase.

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

2. RCS Capital Corporation (RCAP): $33.01

Executive Chairman of Board of Directors Nicholas S. Schorsch acquired 20,000 shares of this investment brokerage, paying $31.94 per share for a total amount of $638,817.

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

3. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.87

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 47,300 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $9.23 per share for a total amount of $436,776. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

4. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $12.8

Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos acquired 33,343 shares of this asset management company, paying $12.49 per share for a total amount of $416,472. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 1.14% to 2,950,363 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Conns Inc. (CONN): $39.52

Director Kelly M. Malson acquired 4,500 shares of this specialty retailer of home appliances, paying $39.58 per share for a total amount of $178,110. Mr. Malson increased his stake by 93.21% to 9,328 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Apollo Education Group, Inc. (APOL): $27.12

Chairman Emeritus of Apollo Group John G. Sperling sold 535,000 shares of this for-profit education company for $31.87, generating $17.05 million. These shares were sold indirectly by various entities.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apollo Education Group, Inc. here.

2. Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS): $10.49

Shares of this oil & gas exploration and production company were sold by 3 insiders:

• SVP, Chief Geoscientist Paul A. Dailly sold 370,124 shares for $10.45, generating $3.87 million from the sale.
• Chief Exploration Officer Brian F. Maxted sold 152,089 shares for $10.72, generating $1.63 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Maxted Holdings, LLC, an entity controlled by the reporting person.
• Executive VP and CFO Greg W. Dunlevy sold 10,799 shares for $11.00, generating $118,789 from the sale. 3,600 of these shares were sold indirectly by 2008 Carnegie, Ltd., an entity controlled by the reporting person.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kosmos Energy Ltd. here.

3. Union Pacific Corporation (UNP): $181.07

EVP Marketing and Sales Eric L. Butler sold 20,273 shares of this railroad company for $186.80, generating $3.79 million from the sale.

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

4. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $58.53

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• VP Marketing & Business Partnerships David B. Fischer sold 36,000 shares for $61.34, generating $2.21 million from the sale.
• Chief Technology Officer Michael Todd Schroepfer sold 25,000 shares for $55.87, generating $1.39 million from the sale.

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

5. Movado Group, Inc. (MOV): $41.63

Chairman – CEO Efraim Grinberg sold 75,000 shares of this luxury watch manufacturer for $41.84, generating $3.14 million from the sale.

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

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

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