Insider Trading 14 August 2015: Sears, MBIA Buying

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined last week with insiders buying $109.95 million of stock compared to $118.14 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $999.89 million of stock last week compared to $2.25 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 dropped down to 9.09. In other words, insiders sold more than 9 times as much stock as they purchased.The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 19.07.

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 August 14, 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. Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD): $25.18

Shares of this department stores chain were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Edward S. Lampert acquired 277,252 shares, paying $22.89 per share for a total amount of $6.35 million. Mr. Lampert increased his stake by 0.98% to 28,660,723 shares with this purchase.
• 10% Owner Bruce R. Berkowitz acquired 9,100 shares, paying $25.25 per share for a total amount of $229,775. According to the footnotes of this filing, these shares were acquired in a private fund managed indirectly by Mr. Berkowitz

This is the second week in a row that Sears made it into our top 5 insider purchases list.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Sears Holdings Corporation here.

2. MBIA Inc. (MBI): $6.81

Shares of this insurance company were acquired by 5 insiders:

• President & COO William C. Fallon acquired 150,000 shares, paying $6.30 per share for a total amount of $945,375. Mr. Fallon increased his stake by 17.26% to 1,019,081 shares with this purchase.
• President, CFO & CAO C. Edward Chaplin acquired 100,000 shares, paying $6.32 per share for a total amount of $632,060. Mr. Chaplin increased his stake by 11.67% to 956,720 shares with this purchase.
• Director Charles R. Rinehart acquired 50,000 shares, paying $6.33 per share for a total amount of $316,670. Mr. Rinehart increased his stake by 51.81% to 146,504 shares with this purchase.
• EVP & Chief Portfolio Officer Anthony McKiernan acquired 50,000 shares, paying $6.36 per share for a total amount of $317,845. Mr. McKiernan increased his stake by 9.00% to 605,492 shares with this purchase.
• EVP, Chief Legal Off. & Secy. Ram D. Wertheim acquired 20,000 shares, paying $6.33 per share for a total amount of $126,600. Mr. Wertheim increased his stake by 4.20% to 496,270 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE): $17.97

Shares of this hotel REIT were acquired by 6 insiders:

• Executive Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 60,000 shares, paying $18.13 per share for a total amount of $1.09 million. Mr. Knight increased his stake by 0.74% to 8,186,708 shares with this purchase.
• President and CEO Justin G. Knight acquired 30,000 shares, paying $18.11 per share for a total amount of $543,153. These shares were purchased indirectly J A M N Ltd. Partnership LLC.
• Director Redd Hugh acquired 10,000 shares, paying $18.09 per share for a total amount of $180,882.
• Executive Vice President & CFO Bryan Peery acquired 7,711 shares, paying $18.05 per share for a total amount of $139,184. Mr. Peery increased his stake by 8.83% to 95,000 shares with this purchase.
• Director Daryl Arthur Nickel acquired 5,500 shares, paying $17.88 per share for a total amount of $98,339.
• Director Bruce H. Matson acquired 1,500 shares, paying $17.74 per share for a total amount of $26,614.

This is an interesting REIT that went public less than 3 months ago in what could arguably be called one of the best operating environments for hotels. Both RevPAR and occupancy rates, the two key metrics for hotels, are near record levels as I recently experienced during a trip to Seattle.

The company owns a portfolio of 176 hotels spread across the Hilton and Marriott families of brands. The REIT has a dividend yield of 6.7% with dividends paid out monthly. This is well above the average yield of lodging REITs, which was 3.8% as of June 30, 2015.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. here.

4. New Media Investment Group Inc. (NEWM): $15.56

Shares of this newspaper publishing company were acquired by two insider:

• 10% Owner Leon G. Cooperman acquired 99,867 shares, paying $15.35 per share for a total amount of $1.53 million. These shares were acquired indirectly through various entities related to Omega Advisors and managed accounts.
• CFO and CAO Gregory William Freiberg acquired 12,500 shares, paying $15.88 per share for a total amount of $198,500. Mr. Freiberg increased his stake by 34.95% to 48,269 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for New Media Investment Group Inc. here.

5. NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NSH): $32.47

Director William E. Greehey acquired 43,282 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $32.29 per share for a total amount of $1.39 million. Mr. Greehey increased his stake by 0.52% to 8,385,224 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NuStar GP Holdings, LLC here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (WETF): $24.58

Shares of this asset management company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Michael H. Steinhardt sold 1,063,210 shares for $25.08, generating $26.66 million from the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Gregory E. Barton sold 33,700 shares for $25.19, generating $849,058 from the sale.
• Director Bruce I. Lavine sold 20,000 shares for $24.66, generating $493,100 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 WisdomTree Investments, Inc. here.

2. 2U, Inc. (TWOU): $36.03

Shares of this e-learning software company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Michael T. Moe sold 444,356 shares for $37.12, generating $16.49 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by GSV Capital.
• Chief Impact Officer James H. Shelton sold 23,640 shares for $37.03, generating $875,271 from the sale.
• Director Mark Chernis sold 1,500 shares for $37.58, generating $56,370 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 2U, Inc. here.

3. Boston Beer Co. Inc. (SAM): $236.55

Shares of this beverage company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman James C. Koch sold 32,000 shares for $234.22, generating $7.49 million from the sale.
• VP – Legal and Secretary Kathleen H. Wade sold 1,408 shares for $235.00, generating $330,880 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 Boston Beer Co. Inc. here.

4. Ellie Mae, Inc. (ELLI): $80.14

Shares of this mortgage software company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Founder & Executive Chairman Sigmund Anderman sold 55,000 shares for $77.22, generating $4.25 million from the sale.
• EVP, CTO Limin Hu sold 22,000 shares for $77.22, generating $1.69 million from the sale.

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

5. Harman International Industries, Incorporated (HAR): $107.82

Shares of this audio-visual equipment manufacturer were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman, President and CEO Dinesh C. Paliwal sold 34,470 shares for $117.66, generating $4.06 million from the sale.
• President, Lifestyle Division Michael Mauser sold 7,917 shares for $116.35, generating $921,143 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Harman International Industries, Incorporated here.

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

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