Insider Weekends – July 29, 2011

  • July 30, 2011

Welcome to edition sixty of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $16.63 million of their stock last week when compared to $13.32 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $801.72 million worth of stock compared to $508.82 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 increased to 48.21. In other words, insiders sold more than 48 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 38.2. 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.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio July 29, 2011
Insider Sell Buy Ratio July 29, 2011

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. Infinera Corporation (INFN): $6.43

Shares of this networking company were acquired by 2 insiders:

  • EVP, Chief Strategy Officer David F. Welch acquired 150,000 shares, paying $6.79 per share for a total amount of $1.02 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through LRFA, LLC of which Mr. Welch is the sole managing member.
  • President and CEO Thomas J. Fallon acquired 50,000 shares, paying $6.52 per share for a total amount of $326,050. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 16.67
P/S: 1.58Price/Book: 1.72EV/EBITDA: -18.78
Market Cap: $679.66MAvg. Daily Volume: 1,078,67052 Week Range: $5.91 – $12.9

2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): $40.45

Director Stephen B. Burke acquired 25,000 shares of this investment bank, paying $42.18 per share for a total amount of $1.05 million. Mr. Burke increased his stake by 40.49% to 86,741 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: 8.64Forward P/E: 7.13Industry P/E: 11.24
P/S: 1.74Price/Book: 0.92EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $160.12BAvg. Daily Volume: 30,053,60052 Week Range: $35.55 – $48.36

3. Brown & Brown Inc. (BRO): $21.81

CFO, Sr. VP & Treasurer Cory T. Walker acquired 20,000 shares of this insurance brokerage company, paying $21.82 per share for a total amount of $436,400. Mr. Walker increased his stake by 14.54% to 157,551 shares with this purchase.

It is not often you come across a brokerage company that posts operating margins of 28%. The stock plunged recently, dropping from a high of $26.06 earlier this month to current levels following the release of second quarter results that dropped 10% year-over-year to 26 cents per share.

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

P/E: 19.83Forward P/E: 17.31Industry P/E: 19.7
P/S: 3.18Price/Book: 1.99EV/EBITDA: 9.06
Market Cap: $3.12BAvg. Daily Volume: 862,00352 Week Range: $18.85 – $27.07

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $4.35

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost MD acquired 100,000 shares of this medical appliances & equipment company, paying $4.12 per share for a total amount of $412,064. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 27.3
P/S: 31.91Price/Book: 9.7EV/EBITDA: -77.11
Market Cap: $1.24BAvg. Daily Volume: 967,74752 Week Range: $2.02 – $5.03

5. Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): $15.14

Director Lawrence E. Harris acquired 25,000 shares of this investment brokerage firm, paying $15.17 per share for a total amount of $379,200. Mr. Harris increased his stake by 77.35% to 57,321 shares with this purchase.

Interactive brokers hit a 52 week low on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 less than a week after reporting second quarter results that came in better than expected. Its market making revenue increased 53% year-over-year while revenue from the electronic brokerage segment increased 17% YoY. This drop to a fresh 52 week low is even more surprising when you consider that Charles Schwab agreed to acquire optionsXpress (OXPS) in March of this year in a deal worth $1 billion. When compared to Interactive Brokers, optionsXpress has a fraction of Interactive Brokers’ revenue and revenue in the second quarter declined 10% YoY.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. here.

P/E: 72.79Forward P/E: 12.51Industry P/E: 15.77
P/S: 0.57Price/Book: 1.23EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $651.29MAvg. Daily Volume: 456,48952 Week Range: $14.97 – $19.49

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $27.4

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Founder and Director Bill Gates sold 10 million shares for $27.80, generating $278.04 million from the sale.
  • Senior Vice President Lisa E. Brummel sold 80,555 shares for $27.97, generating $2,252,726 from the sale. 55,555 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • Chief Accounting Officer Frank H. Brod sold 7,000 shares for $27.75, generating $194,250 from the sale.

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

P/E: 10.19Forward P/E: 8.64Industry P/E: 28.07
P/S: 3.32Price/Book: 4.07EV/EBITDA: 6.47
Market Cap: $229.50BAvg. Daily Volume: 62,239,40052 Week Range: $23.32 – $29.46

2. Core Laboratories NV (CLB): $108.68

Shares of this oil & gas services company were sold by 5 insiders:

  • Chief Executive Officer David M. Demshur sold 200,000 shares for $109.26, generating $21.9 million from the sale.
  • EVP, CFO & Treasurer Richard L. Bergmark sold 50,000 shares for $111.76, generating $5.6 million from the sale.
  • Chief Accounting Officer Charles Brigham Miller sold 10,000 shares for $111.17, generating $1.1 million from the sale.
  • Chief Operating Officer Monty L. Davis sold 9,352 shares for $111.63, generating $1.04 million from the sale.
  • VP, Counsel & Secretary Mark F. Elvig sold 2,246 shares for $108.15, generating $242,905 from the sale.

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

P/E: 32.29Forward P/E: 22.55Industry P/E: 23.04
P/S: 6.17Price/Book: 20.56EV/EBITDA: 20.29
Market Cap: $5.29BAvg. Daily Volume: 499,92052 Week Range: $75.11 – $118.5

3. EMC Corporation (EMC): $26.08

Shares of this data storage and IT infrastructure company were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Vice Chairman William J. Teuber sold 200,000 shares for $27.78, generating $5.6 million from the sale. T hese shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
  • Director John R. Egan sold 100,000 shares for $27.93, generating $2.8 million from the sale.
  • Director David N. Strohm sold 21,600 shares for $27.50, generating $594,000 from the sale.

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

P/E: 28.53Forward P/E: 14.82Industry P/E: 19.32
P/S: 3.09Price/Book: 3.12EV/EBITDA: 13.63
Market Cap: $53.66BAvg. Daily Volume: 17,457,50052 Week Range: $17.9 – $28.73

4. CSX Corp. (CSX): $24.57

SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary Ellen M. Fitzsimmons sold 320,000 shares of this railroad company for $25.43, generating $8.14 million from the sale. 282,002 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

P/E: 15.8Forward P/E: 11.99Industry P/E: 17.76
P/S: 2.39Price/Book: 3.03EV/EBITDA: 7.93
Market Cap: $26.91BAvg. Daily Volume: 9,060,36052 Week Range: $15.5033 – $27.06

5. Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (CIE): $12.32

Shares of this oil exploration company were sold by 2 insiders:

  • General Counsel Samuel H. Gillespie sold 486,181 shares for $13.77, generating $6.7 million from the sale.
  • Chief Exploration Officer James W. Farnsworth sold 84,512 shares for $14.73, generating $1.2 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Cobalt International Energy, Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 21.07
P/S: N/APrice/Book: 2.59EV/EBITDA: -33.5
Market Cap: $4.32BAvg. Daily Volume: 946,09452 Week Range: $7.14 – $17.22

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