Insider Trading 03 July 2015: Insider Buying Tripled

by Asif Suria

Insider buying almost tripled last week with insiders buying $140.28 million of stock compared to $57.81 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand declined with insiders selling $355.34 million of stock last week compared to $870.92 million in the week prior.

A majority of the insider purchases this week were related to David Einhorn participating into a secondary offering by home builder Green Brick Partners (GRBK) to the tune of nearly $85 million. Mr. Einhorn, Greenlight Capital and various other related entities now hold 24.13 million shares of Green Brick Partners. Insider selling was muted, as expected, on account of the start of earnings season.

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 to 2.53. In other words, insiders sold almost 3 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 15.07. 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 July 3, 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. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $12.13

Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 35,121 shares of this asset management company, paying $12.19 per share for a total amount of $428,180. These shares were acquired indirectly by Calamos Investments LLC.

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

2. Greif, Inc. (GEF): $35.69

Director Bruce A. Edwards acquired 35,121 shares of this packaging company, paying $12.19 per share for a total amount of $428,180.

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

3. Windstream Holdings, Inc. (WIN): $6.19

Shares of this telecom service provider were acquired by 2 insiders:

• EVP, General Counsel John P. Fletcher acquired 40,000 shares, paying $6.60 per share for a total amount of $264,000. Mr. Fletcher increased his stake by 30.87% to 169,555 shares with this purchase.
• Director Alan L. Wells acquired 15,000 shares, paying $6.38 per share for a total amount of $95,658. Mr. Wells increased his stake by 23.53% to 78,738 shares with this purchase.

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

4. NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. (NXRT): $13.33

Shares of this apartment REIT were acquired by 4 insiders:

• President James D. Dondero acquired 22,799 shares, paying $13.53 per share for a total amount of $308,452. These shares were acquired indirectly by Highland Capital Management, L.P.
• Executive VP and Chief Investment Officer Matt McGraner acquired 1,000 shares, paying $13.85 per share for a total amount of $13,850. Mr. McGraner increased his stake by 22.89% to 5,368 shares with this purchase.
• Senior VP-Investments and Asset Management Matthew Goetz acquired 290 shares, paying $13.79 per share for a total amount of $3,999. Mr. Goetz increased his stake by 10.15% to 3,147 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Financial Officer, Executive VP-Finance and Treasurer Brian Mitts acquired 150 shares, paying $14.01 per share for a total amount of $2,102. Mr. Mitts increased his stake by 15.38% to 1,125 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. here.

5. Agree Realty Corp. (ADC): $29.6

President and CEO Joey Agree acquired 9,809 shares of this retail REIT, paying $29.61 per share for a total amount of $290,444. Mr. Agree increased his stake by 3.54% to 287,154 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Accenture plc (ACN): $97.33

Shares of this management and technology consulting company were sold by 6 insiders:

• Chairman & CEO Pierre Nanterme sold 47,363 shares for $97.58, generating $4.62 million from the sale.
• Group Chief Exec-Products Alexander M Van’t Noordende sold 12,907 shares for $97.54, generating $1.26 million from the sale.
• Group Chief Exec-North America Julie Spellman Sweet sold 12,072 shares for $97.57, generating $1.18 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer David Rowland sold 5,124 shares for $97.60, generating $500,086 from the sale.
• Chief Accounting Officer Richard P. Clark sold 2,500 shares for $97.61, generating $244,024 from the sale.
• Group Chief Executive-Financial Services Richard Lumb sold 1,250 shares for $97.67, generating $122,090 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Lumb’s spouse.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Accenture plc here.

2. Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET): $81.86

Shares of this cloud networking solutions provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• President and CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 49,565 shares for $83.08, generating $4.12 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through various trusts.
• CTO and SVP Software Engineering Kenneth Duda sold 7,050 shares for $82.74, generating $583,349 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

3. Culp, Inc. (CFI): $31.54

Chairman of the Board Robert G. Culp III sold 100,000 shares of this industrial textile company for $29.72, generating $2.97 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

4. Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK): $50.83

Shares of this design software and services company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Carl Bass sold 50,177 shares for $51.04, generating $2.56 million from the sale.
• Director Kris Halvorsen sold 5,000 shares for $52.30, generating $261,500 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 Autodesk, Inc. here.

5. Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC): $59.42

Chairman and CEO Trevor Fetter sold 47,711 shares of this Texas based hospital operator for $55.02, generating $2.63 million from the sale.

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

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

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