Insider Weekends – Chairman of Barnes & Noble Acquires $6.8 Million Worth of Stock

Welcome to edition 390 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying more than doubled last week with insiders purchasing $117.17 million of stock compared to $49.16 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.84 billion of stock last week compared to $1.7 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 declined to 15.72. In other words, insiders sold almost 16 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favourably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 34.73.

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. American Homes 4 Rent (AMH): $21.77

Director Wayne B. Hughes acquired 802,745 shares of this real estate investment trust, paying $21.30 per share for a total amount of $17.1 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

Mr. Hughes also acquired $15 million worth of stock last month and nearly $30 million worth of stock in September. We wrote the following after his insider purchase in mid-2015,

This is the third purchase (of) a million shares by Mr. Hughes we have reported on over the last six months. Following his purchase in December we mentioned,

“Mr. Hughes is the billionaire founder of Public Storage (PSA) and retired as the CEO of PSA in 2012. He founded the former manager of American Homes 4 Rent in 2011.”

For a REIT, the company has an unusually low yield of just 1.2%, when compared to the average yield of 3.27% of all residential equity REITs (PDF). The value most likely lies in the single family homes that company holds on its balance sheet as their timing in buying single family homes after the great recession was impeccable. The company trades at 1.05 times tangible book value.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Homes 4 Rent here.

2. Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC): $6.76

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer John F. Barry acquired 1,231,698 shares, paying $6.79 per share for a total amount of $8.36 million. Mr. Barry increased his stake by 4.59% to 28,093,192 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Operating Officer Grier M. Eliasek acquired 50,000 shares, paying $6.80 per share for a total amount of $339,900. Mr. Eliasek increased his stake by 4.84% to 1,082,196 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS): $6.55

Chairman of the Board Leonard Riggio acquired 1,000,000 shares of this retail bookstore, paying $6.80 per share for a total amount of $6.8 million. Mr. Riggio increased his stake by 13.17% to 8,594,491 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Barnes & Noble, Inc. here.

4. Allergan plc (AGN): $167.8

Shares of this drug manufacturer were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Christopher J. Coughlin acquired 10,000 shares, paying $163.30 per share for a total amount of $1.63 million. Mr. Coughlin increased his stake by 224.92% to 14,446 shares with this purchase.
• Chairman, President and CEO Brent L. Saunders acquired 4,600 shares, paying $164.74 per share for a total amount of $757,794. Mr. Saunders increased his stake by 2.53% to 186,377 shares with this purchase.
• Director Chris W. Bodine acquired 3,030 shares, paying $164.77 per share for a total amount of $499,253. Mr. Bodine increased his stake by 21.54% to 17,098 shares with this purchase.

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

5. CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL): $14.67

Shares of this telecommunications company were acquired by 8 insiders:

• President & COO Jeffrey K. Storey acquired 71,000 shares, paying $14.30 per share for a total amount of $1.02 million. Mr. Storey increased his stake by 2.92% to 2,498,668 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Executive Officer Glen F. Post acquired 50,000 shares, paying $14.17 per share for a total amount of $708,500. Mr. Post increased his stake by 3.32% to 1,558,139 shares with this purchase.
• Director Steven T. Clontz acquired 25,000 shares, paying $14.25 per share for a total amount of $356,249. Mr. Clontz increased his stake by 24.75% to 126,019 shares with this purchase.
• Director Michael T. Glenn acquired 25,000 shares, paying $14.25 per share for a total amount of $356,280. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Director William Bruce Hanks acquired 10,000 shares, paying $14.41 per share for a total amount of $144,100. Mr. Hanks increased his stake by 20.52% to 58,722 shares with this purchase.
• Director Harvey P. Perry acquired 7,500 shares, paying $14.32 per share for a total amount of $107,430. Mr. Perry increased his stake by 8.87% to 92,036 shares with this purchase.
• Director Martha Helena Bejar acquired 7,000 shares, paying $14.28 per share for a total amount of $99,943. Ms. Bejar increased her stake by 36.86% to 25,991 shares with this purchase.
• Director Michael James Roberts acquired 7,000 shares, paying $14.58 per share for a total amount of $102,039. Mr. Roberts increased his stake by 20.89% to 40,512 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT): $96.55

Director Robson S. Walton sold 1,864,637 shares of Wal-Mart for $97.46, generating $181.72 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. here.

2. Intuit Inc. (INTU): $155.23

Chair, Executive Committee Scott D. Cook sold 183,333 shares of this accounting and tax software company for $155.03, generating $28.42 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through trusts.

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

3. Tyler Technologies, Inc. (TYL): $183.65

Shares of this integrated technology and management services provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Larry D. Leinweber sold 100,000 shares for $183.13, generating $18.31 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• CEO and Chairman of the Board John S. Marr Jr. sold 34,527 shares for $184.12, generating $6.36 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Dustin R. Womble sold 19,200 shares for $184.29, generating $3.54 million 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 Tyler Technologies, Inc. here.

4. Simmons First National Corporation (SFNC): $55.35

Director Christopher R. Kirkland sold 358,715 shares of this bank holding company for $56.81, generating $20.38 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Simmons First National Corporation here.

5. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (OLLI): $49.85

Shares of this discount retailer were sold by 5 insiders:

• President, CEO Mark L. Butler sold 331,292 shares for $48.03, generating $15.91 million from the sale.
• VP, Merchandising Howard Freedman sold 11,500 shares for $48.50, generating $557,750 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP Finance, CAO Jay Stasz sold 11,250 shares for $50.11, generating $563,750 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP, Merchandising Kevin McLain sold 10,000 shares for $48.75, generating $487,500 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• VP and General Counsel Kenneth Robert Bertram sold 4,000 shares for $47.95, generating $191,800 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 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. 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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