Insider Weekends – June 22, 2012

Welcome to edition 107 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $17.9 million of their stock last week compared to $35.9 million in the week prior. This is a significant drop from the $250.5 million of insider buying we reported just two weeks ago. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $917.9 million worth of stock last week compared to $1.8 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 went up to 51.1. In other words, insiders sold more than 51 times the amount of stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the week prior when the ratio stood at 49.5. 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, 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. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $4.59

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 342,500 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $4.54 per share for a total amount of $1.6 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

2. Nanosphere, Inc. (NSPH): $1.96

Director Mark Slezak acquired 309,075 shares of this molecular diagnostic products company, paying $2.03 per share for a total amount of $627,200. These shares were purchased indirectly by Anda-Proquest, LLC.

Mr. Slezak has served on Nanosphere’s board since 2000 and is the Chairman of the Board. He owns almost 27% of the company through various entities and investment funds he represents. You can read a short bio on Mr. Slezak here.

Nanosphere is a molecular diagonistic company with a focus on infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Despite the fact that the company was founded 14 years ago and went public in 2007, it feels like it is still in its infancy as annual revenues have been just north of $2 million for three years and the company is bleeding a lot of cash.

The company believes it has a clear path to profitability when it expands to 400 customers paying $200,000 a year at a gross margin of 60%. The company currently has an installed base of 141 customers and gross margins are running at 30%. Nanosphere has $31.76 million in net cash on its balance sheet, which it will most likely burn through in a year.

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

3. United Therapeutics Corporation (UTHR): $48.01

CEO Martine A. Rothblatt acquired 12,228 shares of this biotech company, paying $47.96 per share for a total amount of $586,476. These shares were purchased indirectly through various trusts.

Voluntary Disclosure: United Therapeutics was the subject of our first weekly focus article and I hold a long position in my personal portfolio.

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

4. MVC Capital, Inc. (MVC): $13.13

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

• Chairman Michael T. Tokarz acquired 30,000 shares, paying $12.61 per share for a total amount of $378,300. Mr. Tokarz increased his stake by 3.98% to 783,777 shares with this purchase.
• Director William E. Taylor acquired 300 shares, paying $12.86 per share for a total amount of $3,858. Mr. Taylor increased his stake by 0.64% to 47,454 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $31.68

Director Michael Jaye Miller acquired 10,000 shares of this oil and gas pipeline company, paying $31.40 per share for a total amount of $314,000.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. (MWIV): $99.55

President and CEO James F. Cleary Jr. sold 116,014 shares of this medical equipment company for $96.97, generating $11.2 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. here.

2. PVH Corp. (PVH): $79.8

Shares of this apparel chain were sold by 2 insiders:

• CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Fred Gehring sold 116,864 shares for $80.64, generating $9.4 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through an entity called Elmira 5 B.V.
• COO of Tommy Hilfiger Ludovicus Rudolph Onnink sold 23,550 shares for $80.64, generating $1.9 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through an entity called Elmira 5 B.V.

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

3. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (FIS): $33.28

Shares of this banking software and electronic payments company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director William P. Foley II sold 237,444 shares for $33.63, generating $7.9 million from the sale.
• Director David K. Hunt sold 31,182 shares for $33.51, generating $1.04 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 Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. here.

4. Ascena Retail Group Inc. (ASNA): $19.12

President & CEO David R. Jaffe sold 433,600 shares of this teen and women’s apparel retailer for $19.56, generating $8.5 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ascena Retail Group Inc. here.

5. Western Refining, Inc. (WNR): $21.4

Shares of this crude oil refining company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman of BOD, Executive Chair Paul L. Foster sold 300,000 shares for $20.78, generating $6.2 million from the sale. 100,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Franklin Mountain Investments Limited Partnership.
• Director Ralph A. Schmidt sold 25,000 shares for $21.00, generating $525,015 from the sale.

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

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