Insider Trading 22 January 2016: Lowest Level Of Insider Sales In Over Four Years

by Asif Suria

Insider buying declined last week with insiders buying $56.58 million of stock compared to $66.27 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $112.27 million of stock last week compared to $212.11 million in the week prior. This is lowest level of insider sales we have seen in over four years.

The market rebounded last week with the S&P 500 managing to eek out a gain of 1.41% for the week. An 8% bounce in the price of brent crude combined with 6.8% growth in the Chinese economy triggered a rally in stocks. While the 6.8% growth rate was a hair’s breadth below forecasts, the Chinese economy is still growing and at a rate that is more than three times that of most developed economies.

Volatility as measured by the VIX index also came down and as a friend pointed out yesterday, it did not hit the 40 level we saw last summer. In other words, fear did not permeate investors as it did last summer. Beyond the headline numbers, it is noteworthy that small caps as defined by the Russell 2000 index (RUT) are already in a bear market and so are certain sectors. Markets are known to turn on a dime and this rebound we saw could very well mark the end of the recent correction but I would be pleasantly surprised if that were the case.

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 1.98. In other words, insiders sold almost 2 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 3.32. 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.

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. Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN): $59.17

Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Wynn acquired 572,850 shares of this resorts & casinos operator, paying $55.62 per share for a total amount of $31.86 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Wynn Family Limited Partnership.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Wynn Resorts Ltd. here.

2. Citigroup Inc. (C): $41.06

Shares of this investment bank were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat acquired 25,000 shares, paying $41.05 per share for a total amount of $1.03 million. Mr. Corbat increased his stake by 7.03% to 380,765 shares with this purchase.

• Director Michael E. O’Neill acquired 25,000 shares, paying $41.01 per share for a total amount of $1.03 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

3. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $352.65

Chairman and CEO Sardar Biglari, acquired 3,461 shares of this restaurant holding company, paying $341.05 per share for a total amount of $1.18 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by The Lion Fund.

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

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.24

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 187,400 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $7.76 per share for a total amount of $1.45 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.

5. JMP Group LLC (JMP): $5.59

CEO Joseph A. Jolson acquired 87,532 shares of this financial services firm, paying $5.35 per share for a total amount of $468,223. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for JMP Group LLC here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Equinix, Inc. (EQIX): $297.05

Shares of this data center services provider were sold by 7 insiders:

• CEO & President Stephen M. Smith sold 11,877 shares for $295.20, generating $3.51 million from the sale.

• Chief Financial Officer Keith D. Taylor sold 4,546 shares for $295.06, generating $1.34 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• Chief Operating Officer Charles J. Meyers sold 3,567 shares for $295.02, generating $1.05 million from the sale.

• President, Equinix Europe Eric Schwartz sold 3,102 shares for $295.95, generating $918,021 from the sale.

• Director Peter Van Camp sold 2,092 shares for $295.09, generating $617,329 from the sale.

• Chief Marketing Officer Sara Baack sold 2,009 shares for $295.24, generating $593,134 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• President, Americas Karl Strohmeyer sold 1,107 shares for $295.03, generating $326,595 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 Equinix, Inc. here.

2. salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): $71.55

Shares of this software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider were sold by 6 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board & CEO Marc Benioff sold 50,000 shares for $70.25, generating $3.51 million from the sale.

• EVP, General Counsel Amy E. Weaver sold 7,062 shares for $71.55, generating $505,269 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• Co-Founder Parker Harris sold 5,000 shares for $71.16, generating $355,796 from the sale.These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.

• Pres., Sales & Cust. Success Maria Martinez sold 2,500 shares for $71.94, generating $179,850 from the sale.

• Pres, Applications & Platform Alexandre Dayon sold 887 shares for $70.36, generating $62,409 from the sale.

• Director John Victor Roos sold 267 shares for $71.94, generating $19,208 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for salesforce.com, inc. here.

3. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): $725.25

Director L. John Doerr sold 4,789 shares of Alphabet for $696.12, generating $3.33 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

4. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): $56.95

Shares of JP Morgan were sold by 2 insiders:

• Managing Director Mary E. Erdoes sold 49,349 shares for $55.27, generating $2.72 million from the sale.

• Managing Director Douglas B. Petno sold 10,566 shares for $55.71, generating $588,584 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for JPMorgan Chase & Co. here.

5. Etsy, Inc. (ETSY): $7.42

Director James Breyer sold 474,193 shares of this specialty retailer for $6.76, generating $3.21 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through various trusts and entities.

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

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

Disclaimer Clients of Signal Partners, LLC and I may have positions in any of these stocks at any time. Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned in this article. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided in this article.

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