Insider Trading 27 June 2014: McGraw Hill Financial, Salesforce Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased last week with insiders buying $29.36 million of stock compared to $59.95 million in the week prior. Selling also declined with insiders selling $856.32 million of stock last week compared to $1.37 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 went up to 29.17. In other words, insiders sold more than 29 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 22.74.

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 June 27, 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. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $9.1

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 165,000 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $8.88 per share for a total amount of $1.46 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

2. Full Circle Capital Corporation (FULL): $7.77

President and Co-CEO Gregg J. Felton acquired 116,352 shares of this business development company, paying $7.40 per share for a total amount of $861,005. Mr. Felton increased his stake by 636.64% to 134,628 shares with this purchase. This purchase appears to be related to a secondary offering by the company and might not be an open market purchase.

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

3. ProPhase Labs, Inc. (PRPH): $1.66

CEO & Chairman Ted William Karkus acquired 500,000 shares of this drug manufacturer, paying $1.56 per share for a total amount of $780,191. Mr. Karkus increased his stake by 30.04% to 2,164,588 shares with this purchase.

I had checked out ProPhase several years ago after their Cold-EEZE zinc lozenges helped cut down the duration of a cold I had. The company was called The Quigley Corporation back then and I came away unimpressed by the company. It looks like the stock has continued drifting lower since I last checked it out. Revenue has however increased from $17.45 million in 2011 to $25.03 million in 2013 and the company managed to eke out a small profit in 2013 before swinging to a loss in the first quarter of 2014.

It is interesting to see the CEO purchase such a large number of shares even as the company raised $2.5 million by selling shares to Duchess Capital as part of a $3 million equity line. As of Q1 2014, the company had $5.52 million in net cash on its balance sheet.

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

4. Access National Corporation (ANCX): $14.76

Director Thomas M. Kody acquired 38,199 shares of this regional bank, paying $14.48 per share for a total amount of $552,996. Mr. Kody increased his stake by 6.43% to 632,469 shares with this purchase. 5,000 of these shares were purchased as part of an option exercise.

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

5. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW): $83.78

Director Mark S. Bartlett acquired 4,500 shares of this asset management company, paying $83.32 per share for a total amount of $374,940. Mr. Bartlett increased his stake by 82.57% to 9,950 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. (MHFI): $83.2

Shares of this financial intelligence company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Harold McGraw III sold 500,000 shares for $82.66, generating $41.33 million from the sale.
• EVP Corporate Affairs Edward D. Smyth sold 12,139 shares for $83.30, generating $1.01 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. here.

2. Salesforce.com, Inc (CRM): $57.38

Shares of this Software as a Service (SaaS) provider were sold by 4 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board & CEO Marc Benioff sold 160,000 shares for $57.40, generating $9.18 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Graham Smith sold 13,000 shares for $57.10, generating $742,242 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Co-Founder Parker Harris sold 11,333 shares for $57.66, generating $653,406 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Craig Conway sold 2,256 shares for $57.07, generating $128,757 from the sale.

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

3. Liberty Media Corporation (LMCA): $134.88

Chairman of the Board John C. Malone sold 74,890 shares of this broadcasting company for $133.53, generating $10 million from the sale.

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

4. Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (JAZZ): $146

Shares of this biotech company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Seamus Mulligan sold 50,000 shares for $149.69, generating $7.48 million from the sale.
• EVP & Chief Operating Officer Russell J. Cox sold 2,000 shares for $155.00, generating $310,000 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company here.

5. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (WYN): $75.62

President, CEO WHG Geoffrey A. Ballotti sold 70,271 shares of this hospitality services provider for $75.00, generating $5.27 million from the sale.

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

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

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