30 October 2015 Insider Trading: Microsoft, Royal Caribbean Selling

by Asif Suria

Insider buying more than doubled last week with insiders buying $122.24 million of stock compared to $50.95 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.36 billion of stock last week compared to $417.9 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 11.14. In other words, insiders sold more than 11 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 8.2.

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 October 30, 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. Greenhill & Co. Inc. (GHL): $25.82

Chief Executive Officer Scott L. Bok acquired 202,510 shares of this investment bank with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, paying $24.89 per share for a total amount of $5.04 million. Mr. Bok increased his stake by 99.33% to 406,377 shares with this purchase.

The company sports a dividend yield of 6.84%. The company not only maintained its dividend through the last financial crisis but actually increased it in early 2008. Despite the recent boom in M&A activity, the top line has not increased much at Greenhill.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Greenhill & Co. Inc. here.

2. Vital Therapies, Inc. (VTL): $7.77

Shares of this biotherapeutic company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Muneer A. Satter acquired 400,000 shares, paying $5.50 per share for a total amount of $2.2 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through various trusts.

• General Counsel and Secretary John Michael Dunn acquired 9,385 shares, paying $6.81 per share for a total amount of $63,933.

• Director Cheryl Cohen acquired 3,500 shares, paying $7.17 per share for a total amount of $25,090. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

Mr. Satter’s purchase was the result of participating in a secondary offering by the company but the other purchases appear to be open market purchases.

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

3. Actuant Corporation (ATU): $22.8

Shares of this diversified machinery company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Exec. VP – Industrial Brian Kobylinski acquired 30,000 shares, paying $21.14 per share for a total amount of $634,200. Mr. Kobylinski increased his stake by 30.79% to 127,441 shares with this purchase.

• Executive Vice President – CFO Andrew Lampereur acquired 24,900 shares, paying $21.75 per share for a total amount of $541,542. Mr. Lampereur increased his stake by 9.20% to 295,608 shares with this purchase.

• Exec VP Engd Solutions Segment Roger Roundhouse acquired 9,200 shares, paying $21.74 per share for a total amount of $200,008. Mr. Roundhouse increased his stake by 61.02% to 24,278 shares with this purchase.

• EVP-Human Resources Eugene Edward Skogg acquired 8,076 shares, paying $21.50 per share for a total amount of $173,634. Mr. Skogg increased his stake by 30.31% to 34,720 shares with this purchase.

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

4. 1st Constitution Bancorp (FCCY): $12.09

Director John P. Costas acquired 66,065 shares of this regional bank, paying $12.21 per share for a total amount of $806,442. Mr. Costas increased his stake by 19.38% to 407,019 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for 1st Constitution Bancorp here.

5. Unifi Inc. (UFI): $30.59

Shares of this textile company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Kenneth G. Langone acquired 23,765 shares, paying $29.39 per share for a total amount of $698,544. Mr. Langone increased his stake by 2.26% to 1,074,000 shares with this purchase.

• Director William J. Armfield acquired 2,000 shares, paying $31.41 per share for a total amount of $62,820.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $52.64

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 4 insiders:

• Founder Bill Gates sold 8,000,000 shares for $53.64, generating $429.15 million from the sale.

• Chief Operating Officer Brian Kevin Turner sold 154,499 shares for $52.99, generating $8.19 million from the sale.

• EVP, Chief Marketing Officer Christopher C. Capossela sold 29,000 shares for $53.59, generating $1.55 million from the sale.

• Chief Accounting Officer Frank H. Brod sold 20,000 shares for $53.51, generating $1.07 million from the sale.

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

2. PacWest Bancorp (PACW): $45.04

Director John M. Eggemeyer III sold 1,079,235 shares of this regional bank for $45.08, generating $48.65 million from the sale. These shares were purchased indirectly by Castle Creek Capital Partners.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for PacWest Bancorp here.

3. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL): $98.35

Shares of this cruise company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chairman & CEO Richard D. Fain sold 150,516 shares for $99.19, generating $14.93 million from the sale.

• Pres., Chief Operating Officer Adam M. Goldstein sold 90,000 shares for $98.88, generating $8.89 million from the sale.

• EVP, Maritime Harri U. Kulovaara sold 8,228 shares for $100.32, generating $825,400 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. here.

4. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA): $34.7

Shares of this airline company were sold by 9 insiders:

• Director Zac Hirzel sold 255,867 shares for $34.98, generating $8.95 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Hirzel Capital Management.

• EVP and CCO Peter R. Ingram sold 60,000 shares for $32.77, generating $1.97 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• SVP-Human Resources Barbara Falvey sold 40,000 shares for $33.75, generating $1.35 million from the sale.

• President and CEO Mark B. Dunkerley sold 23,000 shares for $34.78, generating $800,000 from the sale.

• Director Samson Poomaihealani sold 16,381 shares for $35.02, generating $573,638 from the sale.

• Director Crystal K. Rose sold 15,000 shares for $34.66, generating $519,964 from the sale.These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• EVP and CAO Ronald Anderson-lehman sold 14,568 shares for $32.99, generating $480,575 from the sale.

• Secretary Hoyt Zia sold 10,000 shares for $33.01, generating $330,073 from the sale.

• Director Gregory Anderson sold 9,999 shares for $34.68, generating $346,725 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 Hawaiian Holdings Inc. here.

5. China Biologic Products, Inc. (CBPO): $113.94

Chief Executive Officer David Gao sold 130,660 shares of this biotech company for $107.94, generating $14.1 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for China Biologic Products, Inc. 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