Insider Trading 23 January 2015: Opko Health, Delta Airlines Buying

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined sharply last week with insiders buying just $16.43 million of stock compared to $40.18 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand increased with insiders selling $936.53 million of stock last week compared to $521.34 million 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 57. In other words, insiders sold 57 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 12.98.

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 23, 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. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $10.84

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 139,700 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $10.21 per share for a total amount of $1.43 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. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): $50.56

Director Francis S. Blake acquired 5,000 shares of this airline, paying $48.78 per share for a total amount of $243,900. Mr. Blake increased his stake by 113.90% to 9,390 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Delta Air Lines, Inc. here.

3. United Rentals, Inc. (URI): $88.43

Director Filippo Passerini acquired 2,500 shares of this equipment rental company, paying $87.08 per share for a total amount of $217,700. Mr. Passerini increased his stake by 11.46% to 24,308 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Saratoga Investment Corp. (SAR): $15.49

Director George Cabell Williams III acquired 11,500 shares of this business development company, paying $15.21 per share for a total amount of $174,872. Mr. Williams increased his stake by 56.44% to 31,876 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Saratoga Investment Corp. here.

5. Commercial Metals Company (CMC): $12.99

Director Robert L. Guido acquired 10,000 shares of this scrap metal recycling company, paying $13.08 per share for a total amount of $130,839. Mr. Guido increased his stake by 29.73% to 43,639 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Commercial Metals Company here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL): $51.25

Shares of this apparel chain were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director Jordan Hitch sold 11,299,640 shares for $48.75, generating $550.86 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a fund.
• EVP & Chief Financial Officer Marc Katz sold 50,000 shares for $49.10, generating $2.46 million from the sale.
• Executive Vice President Mike Metheny sold 30,325 shares for $49.39, generating $1.49 million from the sale. 11,999 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Executive Vice President Joyce Manning Magrini sold 8,978 shares for $50.50, generating $453,389 from the sale.

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

2. Medivation, Inc. (MDVN): $106.27

President and CEO David Hung sold 100,000 shares of this biotech company for $108.14, generating $10.81 million from the sale.

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

3. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $68.74

Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 151,600 shares of this software-as-a-service provider for $65.22, generating $9.89 million from the sale. 50,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Frederic B. Luddy CRT, LLC and 1,600 shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Luddy’s spouse.

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

4. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG): $72.83

Shares of this natural gas storage and pipeline company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chairman, CEO & President Charif Souki sold 50,000 shares for $73.22, generating $3.66 million from the sale.
• Executive VP – Asset Group R Keith Teague sold 25,000 shares for $73.19, generating $1.83 million from the sale.
• Sr. VP and General Counsel Greg W. Rayford sold 12,000 shares for $73.33, generating $879,949 from the sale.

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

5. The Walt Disney Company (DIS): $94.72

Shares of Disney were sold by 2 insiders:

• Sr EVP, General Counsel & Secretary Alan N. Braverman sold 60,915 shares for $94.58, generating $5.76 million from the sale. 39,103 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP, Planning and Control Brent Woodford sold 2,920 shares for $94.07, generating $274,684 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Walt Disney Company here.

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

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