Insider Trading 28 November 2014: Twitter, Goldman Sachs Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying decreased last week with insiders buying $59.33 million of stock compared to $68.12 million in the week prior. Selling increased a little with insiders selling $1.73 billion of stock last week compared to $1.69 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 29.22. 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 24.94.

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 28, 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. Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD): $143.83

Chairman, President and CEO Seifi Ghasemi acquired 30,000 shares of this supplier of industrial gases and performance material, paying $144.67 per share for a total amount of $4.34 million. Mr. Ghasemi increased his stake by 29.99% to 130,026 shares with this purchase.

This is the second week in a row we have seen large purchases by Mr. Ghasemi.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Air Products & Chemicals Inc. here.

2. Rex Energy Corporation (REXX): $7.02

Shares of this oil & gas exploration company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Lance T. Shaner acquired 487,800 shares, paying $8.78 per share for a total amount of $4.28 million. Mr. Shaner increased his stake by 17.89% to 3,214,685 shares with this purchase. 243,900 of these shares were purchased indirectly through trusts.
• Chief Accounting Officer Curtis J. Walker acquired 2,000 shares, paying $8.27 per share for a total amount of $16,540. Mr. Walker increased his stake by 3.79% to 54,755 shares with this purchase.
• Director John A. Lombardi acquired 1,000 shares, paying $8.64 per share for a total amount of $8,640. Mr. Lombardi increased his stake by 2.76% to 37,292 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Ashford, Inc. (AINC): $118.75

CEO and Chairman of the Board Monty J. Bennett acquired 20,019 shares of this real estate asset management company, paying $115.56 per share for a total amount of $2.31 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by MJB Investments LP.

Ashford topped the list of insider purchases last week and we wrote the following about the company,

“Ashford was spun-out from Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) on November 12, 2014 and started trading as a public company the following day.

I got very different historical price data from various sites but it is very clear that the stock has close to doubled during its short trading life. It is interesting to see insiders buying right after the spin-off even as the stock marched higher.”

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

4. Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ): $23.74

Shares of this car rental company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• President and CEO John P. Tague acquired 84,200 shares, paying $24.11 per share for a total amount of $2.03 million.
• Director Linda Fayne Levinson acquired 5,000 shares, paying $24.11 per share for a total amount of $120,550. Mr. Levinson increased his stake by 23.88% to 25,934 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. here.

5. SFX Entertainment Inc. (SFXE): $4.35

CEO and Chairman of the Board Robert F. Sillerman acquired 409,454 shares of this live events and digital entertainment producer, paying $4.30 per share for a total amount of $1.76 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Sillerman Investment Company III LLC.

This feels like a week of repeats as three of the top 5 purchases were also on last week’s list including SFXE. We wrote the following about the company following the purchase by the CEO last week,

The only thing more troubling than the lack of operating profits and growing debt on the balance sheet is the behavior of the CEO as he disembarked from a private jet earlier this year. Following this behavior, an analyst asked on the company’s earnings conference call asked him about it and remarked, “We’re just trying to make sure that you’re still sane.”

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Twitter, Inc. (TWTR): $41.74

Shares of Twitter were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Evan Clark Williams sold 719,193 shares for $39.95, generating $28.73 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through various trusts.
• VP, Finance and Accounting Off Luca Baratta sold 417 shares for $40.00, generating $16,680 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 Twitter, Inc. here.

2. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (APAM): $51.75

Director Tench Coxe sold 542,958 shares of this asset management company for $50.00, generating $27.15 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Sutter Hill Ventures.

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

3. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): $188.41

Shares of Goldman Sachs were sold by 2 insiders:

• Executive VP – General Counsel Gregory K. Palm sold 48,325 shares for $190.09, generating $9.19 million from the sale. 23,325 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Debora L. Spar sold 300 shares for $190.22, generating $57,066 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. here.

4. Five Below, Inc. (FIVE): $46.66

Shares of this specialty value retailer were sold by 2 insiders:

• CEO Thomas Vellios sold 100,000 shares for $46.30, generating $4.63 million from the sale.
• Executive Chairman David Schlessinger sold 100,000 shares for $45.36, generating $4.54 million from the sale.

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

5. Seagate Technology Public Limited Company (STX): $66.11

Shares of this data storage company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chairman and CEO Stephen J. Luczo sold 92,017 shares for $65.00, generating $5.98 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Executive Vice President, Sales David K. Richarz sold 15,400 shares for $65.35, generating $1 million from the sale.
• Director Jay L. Geldmacher sold 5,000 shares for $66.00, generating $330,000 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Seagate Technology Public Limited Company here.

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

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold long positions in Twitter (TWTR) and Hertz (HTZ).

Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/asifsuria