Insider Trading 27 March 2015: Ross Stores Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined sharply last week with insiders buying $27.48 million of stock compared to $148.24 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $1.37 billion of stock last week compared to $1.51 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 49.92. In other words, insiders sold almost 50 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 10.16.

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 March 27, 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. Patriot National, Inc. (PN): $13.39

President and Chief Executive Officer Steven M. Mariano acquired 255,816 shares of this insurance industry services provider, paying $13.58 per share for a total amount of $3.48 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a corporation.

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

2. Frank’s International N.V. (FI): $17.72

Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Director and Executive Chairman D. Keith Mosing acquired 57,000 shares of this provider of engineered tubular services to the energy industry, paying $17.71 per share for a total amount of $1 million. Mr. Mosing increased his stake by 12.58% to 510,187 shares with this purchase.

In addition to Frank’s, we saw a cluster of insider purchases in the oil services industry this week including purchases by the CEO of Hornbeck Offshore Services (HOS), by a director of Gulfmark Offshore (GLF) and by the CEO of PHI as mentioned below.

Frank’s stands out as one of the companies in this sector that has net cash on the balance sheet to the tune of $489 million and one of the best operating margins in this industry at 27%. While both revenues and margins are likely to come down in the ensuing months due to the downturn in the industry, it looks like Frank’s is well positioned (pun intended) to weather this storm.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Frank’s International N.V. here.

3. PHI Inc. (PHII): $31.15

Chief Executive Officer Alton Anthony Gonsoulin Jr. acquired 28,416 shares of this helicopter transportation services provider, paying $33.10 per share for a total amount of $940,592. Mr. Gonsoulin increased his stake by 1.42% to 2,026,003 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $14.49

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 46,800 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $14.26 per share for a total amount of $667,197. These shares were acquired indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

5. SJW Corp. (SJW): $30.09

Shares of this water utility were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director George E. Moss acquired 16,325 shares, paying $30.32 per share for a total amount of $494,989. Mr. Moss increased his stake by 1.55% to 1,071,854 shares with this purchase.
• Director Valer van Robert acquired 4,619 shares, paying $30.51 per share for a total amount of $140,926. Mr. Robert increased his stake by 9.39% to 53,828 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Ross Stores Inc. (ROST): $104.13

Shares of this discount apparel chain were sold by 6 insiders:

• President, Chief Operating Officer Michael O’Sullivan sold 126,655 shares for $107.04, generating $13.56 million from the sale.
• Chairman, Executive Michael Balmuth sold 84,719 shares for $107.26, generating $9.09 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Group EVP, Merchandising Bernard G. Brautigan sold 30,000 shares for $107.52, generating $3.23 million from the sale.
• President, Chief Dev. Officer James S. Fassio sold 10,000 shares for $108.00, generating $1.08 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• President, Merchanding Lisa R. Panattoni sold 1,493 shares for $105.14, generating $156,981 from the sale.
• Group S.V.P., CFO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 1,213 shares for $104.47, generating $126,722 from the sale.

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

2. Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (MMI): $36.53

Director George M. Marcus sold 600,000 shares of this brokerage company for $31.99, generating $19.19 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Ionian Investments Manager LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Marcus & Millichap, Inc. here.

3. Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (JAZZ): $175.42

Director Seamus Mulligan sold 50,000 shares of this biotech company for $174.59, generating $8.73 million from the sale.

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

4. FireEye, Inc. (FEYE): $39.81

Chief Strategy Officer Ashar Aziz sold 188,434 shares of this cybersecurity solutions provider for $40.34, generating $7,601,645 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

5. SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG): $127.74

President Andrew W. Mathias sold 50,000 shares of this office REIT for $133.57, generating $6.68 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for SL Green Realty Corp. here.

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

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