Insider Trading 09 January 2015: 7 Insiders Were Selling Twitter

by Asif Suria

Insider buying increased significantly last week with insiders buying $104.71 million of stock compared to $18.4 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $728.27 million of stock last week compared to $258.37 million in the week prior. The majority of the insider buying was related to biotech investors Baker Brothers participating in a secondary offering by Synageva Biopharma (GEVA) by picking up a million shares to the tune of $94.19 million. With the first quarter earnings season just around the corner, we are likely to see muted insider activity over the next few days.

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 6.58. In other words, insiders sold almost 7 times as much stock as they purchased.The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 14.04.

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 9, 2015

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. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $400

Chairman and CEO Sardar Biglari, acquired 6,411 shares of this restaurant holding company, paying $405.09 per share for a total amount of $2.59 million. These shares were acquired indirectly through The Lion Fund.

This is the third week in a row that purchases by Mr. Biglari have topped our list.

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

2. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $12.39

Chairman, CEO & Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 67,621 shares of this asset management company, paying $12.54 per share for a total amount of $848,302. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 1.89% to 3,641,923 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $10.1

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 76,300 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $9.95 per share for a total amount of $759,345. 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. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (LTS): $3.88

Shares of this investment brokerage were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 100,000 shares, paying $4.09 per share for a total amount of $408,640. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.
• Director Jacqueline M. Simkin acquired 5,000 shares, paying $3.89 per share for a total amount of $19,450. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Senior Vice President Joseph Giovanniello acquired 1,666 shares, paying $3.87 per share for a total amount of $6,449. Mr. Giovanniello increased his stake by 1.62% to 104,536 shares with this purchase. 666 of these shares were acquired under the Issuer’s employee stock purchase plan.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. here.

5. BRT Realty Trust (BRT): $7.09

President and CEO Jeffrey Gould acquired 19,439 shares of this apartment REIT, paying $7.02 per share for a total amount of $136,554. These shares were purchased indirectly by Gould Investors L.P.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for BRT Realty Trust here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Twitter, Inc. (TWTR): $40.17

Shares of Twitter were sold by 7 insiders:

• Director Evan Clark Williams sold 372,000 shares for $36.95, generating $13.75 million from the sale. 349,680 of these shares were sold through various trusts and entities.
• Chief Executive Officer Richard Costolo sold 140,352 shares for $36.31, generating $5.09 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• President of Revenue Adam Bain sold 65,438 shares for $36.18, generating $2.37 million from the sale. 39,020 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• VP, Engineering Alexander Roetter sold 16,092 shares for $36.34, generating $584,820 from the sale.
• Vice President of Product Kevin Weil sold 15,536 shares for $36.37, generating $565,034 from the sale.
• VP, Finance and Accounting Off Luca Baratta sold 14,567 shares for $36.26, generating $528,228 from the sale. 5,827 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• General Counsel Vijaya Gadde sold 2,021 shares for $35.94, generating $72,625 from the sale.

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

2. Northstar Asset Management Group Inc. (NSAM): $21.62

President Albert Tylis sold 421,132 shares of this asset management company for $21.37, generating $8.99 million from the sale.

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

3. NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. (NRF): $18.1

President Albert Tylis sold 421,132 shares of this retail REIT for $17.87, generating $7.53 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. here.

4. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (SIX): $43.3

Chairman, President & CEO James Reid-Anderson sold 150,700 shares of this theme park operator for $43.12, generating $6.49 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Six Flags Entertainment Corporation here.

5. Salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): $58.16

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

• Chairman of the Board & CEO Marc Benioff sold 87,500 shares for $58.32, generating $5.1 million from the sale.
• Co-Founder Parker Harris sold 5,000 shares for $57.52, generating $287,591 from the sale.These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Lawrence Tomlinson sold 800 shares for $57.76, generating $46,204 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for salesforce.com, inc. here.

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

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Twitter (TWTR)

Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/asifsuria or follow me on Twitter@asifsuria