Insider Weekends – Insider Buying Remains Muted Going Into Earnings Season

Welcome to edition 382 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased significantly last week with insiders purchasing $101.9 million of stock compared to $26.99 million in the week prior. A majority of this insider buying was related to insiders participating in IPOs or secondary offerings. Regular open market insider purchases remained muted. Selling on the other hand decreased with insiders selling $573.49 million of stock last week compared to $952.23 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 dropped down to 5.63. In other words, insiders sold almost 6 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 35.28.

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. Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (AXDX): $20.1

Director Jack W. Schuler acquired 51,600 shares of this in vitro diagnostics company, paying $20.27 per share for a total amount of $1.05 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

2. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $339.47

Chairman of the Board Sardar Biglari, acquired 1,705 shares of this holding company, paying $334.80 per share for a total amount of $570,835. These shares were purchased indirectly by The Lion Fund.

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

3. CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CASI): $2.72

Director Wei-Wu He acquired 300,000 shares of this biotech company, paying $1.87 per share for a total amount of $561,000. Mr. He increased his stake by 54.79% to 847,527 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Genius Brands International, Inc. (GNUS): $3.52

Chief Executive Officer Andrew A. Heyward acquired 37,800 shares of this multimedia content and brand management company, paying $3.49 per share for a total amount of $131,754. Mr. Heyward increased his stake by 15.19% to 286,640 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Genius Brands International, Inc. here.

5. Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (ATXI): $5.47

Shares of this pharmaceutical company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Lindsay A. Rosenwald acquired 10,000 shares, paying $5.58 per share for a total amount of $55,817. Mr. Rosenwald increased his stake by 100.00% to 20,000 shares with this purchase.
• Director Neil Herskowitz acquired 500 shares, paying $5.24 per share for a total amount of $2,620. Mr. Herskowitz increased his stake by 1.00% to 50,500 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $173.74

Shares of Facebook were sold by 4 insiders:

• COB and CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 246,237 shares for $172.60, generating $42.49 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through various entities.
• Chief Technology Officer Michael Todd Schroepfer sold 38,058 shares for $171.51, generating $6.53 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Product Officer Christopher K. Cox sold 16,000 shares for $172.89, generating $2.77 million from the sale.
• VP and General Counsel Colin Stretch sold 750 shares for $172.98, generating $129,738 from the sale.

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

2. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WLTW): $157.59

Director Jeffrey W. Ubben sold 295,650 shares of this advisory, broking, and solutions services provider for $156.72, generating $46.33 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a fund.

Activist value-oriented fund ValueAct Capital has been reducing its stake in WLTW since May of this year.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company here.

3. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): $149.91

Shares of this network security company were sold by 4 insiders:

• CTO Nir Zuk sold 146,000 shares for $149.86, generating $21.88 million from the sale.
• Chief Executive Officer Mark D. McLaughlin sold 35,000 shares for $149.70, generating $5.24 million from the sale. 25,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Chief Marketing Officer Rene Bonvanie sold 27,248 shares for $150.00, generating $4.09 million from the sale.
• Director Stanley J. Meresman sold 2,000 shares for $151.01, generating $302,024 from the sale.

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

4. CBS Corporation (CBS): $57.00

Chairman, President and CEO Leslie Moonves sold 328,000 shares of this mass media company for $57.29, generating $18.79 million from the sale. 300,000 of 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 CBS Corporation here.

5. QVC Group (QVCA): $22.31

Director Mark C. Vadon sold 804,997 shares of this online and television-based commerce company for $22.64, generating $18.23 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Lake Tana LLC.

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

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

Disclaimer: 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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