Insider Weekends – October 21, 2011

Welcome to edition seventy two of Insider Weekends. Insider buying remained low with insiders purchasing $3.9 million of their stock last week. Selling on the other hand increased with insiders selling $626.7 million worth of stock compared to $423.4million 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 162.5. In other words, insiders sold more than 162 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at just 107.3. This spike can mostly be attributed to muted insider buying as we get into earnings season. 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. Apache Corp. (APA): $94.73

Shares of this natural gas company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Chansoo Joung acquired 5,000 shares, paying $90.00 per share for a total amount of $450,000. Mr. Joung increased his stake by 47.31% to 15,569 shares with this purchase.
• Director William C. Montgomery acquired 2,000 shares, paying $90.00 per share for a total amount of $180,000. Mr. Montgomery increased his stake by 40.00% to 7,000 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Montgomery also picked up 4,000 shares (units) last month and this is the third insider purchase at Apache this month as you can see from this page.

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

2. Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. (PTP): $32.74

Shares of this Property and Casualty insurance company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Platinum US President and CEO H Elizabeth Mitchell acquired 14,000 shares, paying $30.04 per share for a total amount of $420,615. Mr. Mitchell increased his stake by 10.86% to 142,954 shares with this purchase.
• EVP & Chief Financial Officer Allan Carl Decleir acquired 3,300 shares, paying $30.12 per share for a total amount of $99,398. Mr. Decleir increased his stake by 35.89% to 12,496 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. here.

3. Gyrodyne Co. of America Inc. (GYRO): $61

Director Paul L. Lamb acquired 3,711 shares of this medical office and industrial properties REIT, paying $53.00 per share for a total amount of $196,683. Some of these shares were purchased indirectly through a profit sharing plan while the rest were purchased in an IRA.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Gyrodyne Co. of America Inc. here.

4. Trans World Entertainment Corporation (TWMC): $2.14

Chairman and CEO Robert J. Higgins acquired 75,000 shares of this entertainment products retailer, paying $2.08 per share for a total amount of $155,985. Mr. Higgins increased his stake by 0.52% to 14,472,625 shares with this purchase.

We wrote the following about Trans World Entertainment earlier this year following purchases by the CEO who has continued to buy through the year, “Trans world’s CEO Robert Higgins and President Michael Honeyman purchased shares several time throughout 2010, albeit in small amounts. The only insider to sell was Director Bryant Riley. It is not entirely clear to me why they are buying stock as the company has been consistently reporting operating losses for several years. The company operates a chain of mall-based retail entertainment stores under f.y.e., Suncoast Motion Pictures, and Saturday Matinee brand names.”

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Trans World Entertainment Corporation here.

5. China TransInfo Technology Corp. (CTFO): $3.22

CEO and President Shudong Xia acquired 36,534 shares of this transportation software company, paying $3.22 per share for a total amount of $117,744. Mr. Xia increased his stake by 5.50% to 701,022 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for China TransInfo Technology Corp. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (BBBY): $61.81

Shares of this home products retailer were sold by 2 insiders:

• Co-Chairman Warren Eisenberg sold 600,000 shares for $60.60, generating $36.4 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through family trusts.
• Co-Chairman Leonard Feinstein sold 400,000 shares for $60.60, generating $24.2 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through family trusts.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. here.

2. Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ): $20.15

Shares of this alcoholic beverages company were sold by 2 insiders:

• President & CEO Robert Sands sold 205,600 shares for $20.29, generating $4.2 million from the sale.
• Chairman of the Board Richard Sands sold 192,600 shares for $20.26, generating $3.9 million from the sale.

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

3. Unitedhealth Group, Inc. (UNH): $47.92

Director Richard T. Burke sold 100,000 shares of this healthcare services provider for $47.75, generating $4.8 million from the sale.

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

4. Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OAS): $31.4

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

• Senior VP Land Kent O. Beers sold 60,000 shares for $29.31, generating $1.8 million from the sale.
• Senior VP Asset Management H Brett Newton sold 57,000 shares for $31.00, generating $1.8 million from the sale.

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

5. Fastenal Co. (FAST): $35.51

Director Robert A. Kierlin sold 100,000 shares of this industrial and construction products supplier for $33.54, generating $3.4 million from the sale.

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

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