Insider Weekends – March 4, 2011

Welcome to edition thirty nine of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased once again with insiders purchasing $56.4 million of their stock last week when compared to $36.86 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.44 billion worth of stock when compared to $895.43 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 buying in that week. The adjusted ratio for last week increased slightly to 25.6. In other words, insiders sold more than 25 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 24.29. 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 Introduction to Insider Weekends, 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. The Coca-Cola Company (KO): $65.21

Director Barry Diller acquired 235,000 shares of Coke, paying $64.44 per share for a total amount of $15.14 million. Mr. Diller increased his stake by 16.77% to 1,636,000 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Diller also picked up 390,000 shares in two separate transactions in November for a total of $24.3 million. A newly appointed director Evan Greenberg bought 3,896 shares last week. All other transactions over the last six months have been sales as you can see from this page.

2. TransDigm Group Incorporated (TDG): $82.67

Director Robert J. Small acquired 58,500 shares of this aircraft components manufacturer, paying $81.13 per share for a total amount of $4.75 million.

These shares were acquired indirectly through a group of funds collectively known as “Berkshire Entities”.

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

3. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (SIX): $62.65

Executive Vice President, CFO John M. Duffey acquired 28,000 shares of this theme parks company, paying $59.98 per share for a total amount of $1.68 million. These shares were acquired indirectly through a family trust.

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

4. Cabela’s Inc. (CAB): $26.51

Director Reuben Mark acquired 60,000 shares of this outdoor sporting goods retailer, paying $26.99 per share for a total amount of $1.62 million. Mr. Mark increased his stake by 5.94% to 1,069,413 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (ECHO): $12.49

Director Eric P. Lefkofsky acquired 100,000 shares of this supply chain management company, paying $11.85 per share for a total amount of $1.18 million.

These shares were acquired indirectly through Orange Media, LLC, a company that is wholly owned by Mr. Lefkofsky’s wife. Mr. Lefkofsky has acquired shares thrice over the last six months even as the CEO and COO have been selling shares as you can see here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. First Solar, Inc. (FSLR): $146.57

Shares of this solar energy company were sold by 6 insiders:

• Director Michael J. Ahearn sold 100,000 shares for $148.56, generating $14.86 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through an annuity trust.
• Director James F. Nolan sold 10,000 shares for $151.23, generating $1.51 million from the sale.
• Director Michael T. Sweeney sold 6,750 shares for $150.95, generating $1.02 million from the sale.
• Chief Technology Officer David J. Eaglesham sold 3,627 shares for $147.54, generating $535,115 from the sale.
• CAO / Interim CFO James Zhu sold 3,322 shares for $152.45, generating $506,439 from the sale.
• EVP, Human Resources Carol Campbell sold 2,177 shares for $147.66, generating $321,456 from the sale.

With the exception of Mr. Ahearn and Mr. Zhu’s sales, all other sales were as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale. The estate of Walmart heir John T. Walton also sold 450,000 shares and an additional 618,967 shares were sold through a trust.

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

2. Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN): $469.128

Shares of this online travel company were sold by 6 insiders:

• Vice Chairman Robert J. Mylod sold 61,666 shares for $455.02, generating $28.06 million from the sale.
• COO, Booking.com Kees Koolen sold 25,762 shares for $463.04, generating $11.93 million from the sale. Unless the wrong transaction code was used in the filing (happens more often that one would imagine), it looks like Mr. Koolen was awarded or granted these shares.
• MD, AUS/N.Z., Booking.com Adrian Currie sold 13,000 shares for $450.00, generating $5.85 million from the sale.
• President, North American Travel Chris Soder sold 5,898 shares for $448.66, generating $2.65 million from the sale.
• Executive VP, General Counsel Peter J. Millones sold 5,860 shares for $448.66, generating $2.63 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Daniel J. Finnegan sold 1,819 shares for $448.84, generating $816,437 from the sale.

25,096 of Mr. Mylod’s shares were related to the vesting of performance shares. The rest of the sales were all related to the vesting of performance shares that were awarded or granted to these insiders.

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

3. Hess Corporation (HES): $84.24

Shares of this oil & gas company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board and CEO John B. Hess sold 300,000 shares for $84.97, generating $25.49 million from the sale. Half of these shares were sold from a trust and the rest were sold through a charitable annuity trust.
• Senior Vice President John J. Scelfo sold 10,000 shares for $85.74, generating $857,400 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 Hess Corporation here.

4. Perrigo Co. (PRGO): $77.6

Shares of this drug and nutritional products company were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Moshe Arkin sold 278,387 shares for $76.33, generating $21.25 million from the sale. 34,513 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale. The rest were sold indirectly by Nichsei Arkin Ltd.
• Executive VP U.S. Generics Sharon Kochan sold 7,500 shares for $76.38, generating $572,821 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Michael J. Jandernoa sold 3,942 shares for $76.46, generating $301,388 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 Perrigo here.

5. WebMD Health Corp. (WBMD): $57.21

Shares of this internet content provider were sold by 5 insiders:

• Director Kevin M. Cameron sold 179,442 shares for $57.04, generating $10.23 million from the sale.
• COO and CFO Anthony Vuolo sold 60,000 shares for $57.17, generating $3.43 million from the sale.
• Director James V. Manning sold 35,000 shares for $56.84, generating $1.99 million from the sale.
• Director Mark J. Adler sold 34,967 shares for $57.05, generating $1.99 million from the sale. 29,494 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Executive VP-Professional Services Steven L. Zatz sold 20,000 shares for $57.22, generating $1.14 million from the sale.

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

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