Insider Weekends – Insider Buying Declines Sharply In a Holiday Shortened Week

Welcome to edition 394 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying declined significantly in a holiday shortened week with insiders purchasing $7.58 million of stock compared to $28.43 million in the week prior. Selling more than doubled with insiders selling $647.6 million of stock last week compared to $314.96 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 85.44. In other words, insiders sold more than 81 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavourably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 11.08.

While this level of insider buying and the big spike in the Sell/Buy ratio may be cause for concern, insider buying is generally muted toward the end of a quarter and the start of the next quarter. The 2.6% increase in the S&P 500 last week to new highs may also be giving insiders pause.

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. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $417.98

Director Sardar Biglari, acquired 4,589 shares of this holding company, paying $418.50 per share for a total amount of $1.92 billion. These shares were purchased indirectly by The Lion Fund.

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

2. Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (RPT): $14.50

President and CEO Earl Dennis Gershenson, acquired 25,000 shares of this retail REIT, paying $14.58 per share for a total amount of $364,500. This was an amended filing for a purchase in December that was incorrectly filed as an options exercise instead of an open market purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust here.

3. FS Investment Corporation (FSIC): $7.7

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Michael C. Forman acquired 22,922 shares, paying $7.44 per share for a total amount of $170,524. These shares were purchased indirectly by a trust.
• Director Thomas Gravina acquired 34,500 shares, paying $7.55 per share for a total amount of $260,612. Mr. Gravina increased his stake by 442.31% to 42,300 shares with this purchase. 9,700 of these shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.
• Executive Vice President Zachary Klehr acquired 2,000 shares, paying $7.45 per share for a total amount of $14,900. Mr. Klehr increased his stake by 12.75% to 17,682 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET): $5.53

Shares of this diversified REIT were acquired by 3 insiders:

• President, CEO and CIO Mark Okey Decker Jr. acquired 30,000 shares, paying $5.58 per share for a total amount of $167,272. Mr. Decker increased his stake by 22.90% to 160,985 shares with this purchase.
• EVP and CFO John Kirchmann acquired 10,000 shares, paying $5.68 per share for a total amount of $56,800. These shares were purchased indirectly through IRA.
• Director Michael T. Dance acquired 10,000 shares, paying $5.50 per share for a total amount of $55,000. Mr. Dance increased his stake by 42.20% to 33,695 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Investors Real Estate Trust here.

5. Biogen Inc. (BIIB): $342.49

Chief Executive Officer Michel Vounatsos acquired 780 shares of this biotech company, paying $320.55 per share for a total amount of $250,029. Mr. Vounatsos increased his stake by 19.03% to 4,879 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): $152.97

Shares of this network security company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director James J. Goetz sold 78,000 shares for $146.78, generating $11.45 million from the sale. 68,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by the Freedom Reigns Foundation and 10,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by the Zteog Foundation.
• Chief Executive Officer Mark D. McLaughlin sold 35,000 shares for $149.50, generating $5.23 million from the sale. 25,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• EVP, Chief Technology Officer Nir Zuk sold 30,000 shares for $148.03, generating $4.44 million from the sale.

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

2. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): $54.6

Shares of this semiconductor company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Sr. VP, GM Srv., Dspl. & Flex. Ali Salehpour sold 125,125 shares for $51.47, generating $6.44 million from the sale.
• Senior VP, CTO Omkaram Nalamasu sold 53,466 shares for $53.00, generating $2.83 million from the sale.
• Director Stephen R. Forrest sold 4,000 shares for $53.67, generating $214,680 from the sale.

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

3. RealPage, Inc. (RP): $45.4

Chairman President & CEO Stephen T. Winn sold 201,968 shares of this application software company for $45.52, generating $9.19 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by various entities.

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

4. IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC): $133.31

EVP and GC Gregg Winiarski sold 62,253 shares of this media and internet services provider for $127.19, generating $7.92 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for IAC/InterActiveCorp here.

5. Nordson Corporation (NDSN): $149.34

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

• Senior Vice President John J. Keane sold 20,000 shares for $150.35, generating $3 millionfrom the sale.
• Vice President Shelly Peet sold 15,000 shares for $148.90, generating $2.23 million from the sale.
• Senior Vice President Gregory P. Merk sold 12,200 shares for $150.03, generating $1.83 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Joseph P. Keithley sold 1,518 shares for $149.89, generating $227,533 from the sale.

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

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

The list of all insider purchases and sales by management people is only available to InsideArbitrage Premium and Plus members.

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.

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