Insider Weekends – October 18, 2013

Welcome to edition 174 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $75.98 million of their stock last week compared to $26.05 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $729.32 million of stock last week compared to $229.99 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 9.6. In other words, insiders sold almost 10 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 8.83. 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. Acorn Energy, Inc. (ACFN): $3.26

Shares of this energy infrastructure company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Director Mannie L. Jackson acquired 80,000 shares, paying $2.85 per share for a total amount of $228,000.
• Director Andy Sassine acquired 6,988 shares, paying $3.25 per share for a total amount of $22,711. Mr. Sassine increased his stake by 2.32% to 308,096 shares with this purchase.
• President and CEO of USSI James Andersen acquired 5,000 shares, paying $2.85 per share for a total amount of $14,250. Mr. Andersen increased his stake by 500.00% to 6,000 shares with this purchase.
• CFO Michael Barth acquired 3,500 shares, paying $2.85 per share for a total amount of $9,975. Mr. Barth increased his stake by 10.13% to 38,044 shares with this purchase.

Given the same purchase price of $2.85 for three of the four insiders and the fact that the stock did not trade close to $2.85 on the date of the purchase, these purchases were most likely related to the recent secondary offering by the company.

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

2. AutoZone, Inc. (AZO): $432.11

Shares of this auto parts retailer were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Douglas H. Brooks acquired 355 shares, paying $422.54 per share for a total amount of $150,001. Mr. Brooks increased his stake by 223.27% to 514 shares with this purchase.
• Director Bryan D. Jordan acquired 240 shares, paying $423.87 per share for a total amount of $101,729. Mr. Jordan increased his stake by 150.94% to 399 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (CMTL): $28.95

Chairman, CEO & President Fred Kornberg acquired 7,958 shares of this communication equipment company, paying $27.44 per share for a total amount of $218,368. Mr. Kornberg increased his stake by 2.05% to 395,445 shares with this purchase.

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

4. Markel Corp. (MKL): $520.02

Director Darrell D. Martin acquired 150 shares of this property & casualty insurance company, paying $538.30 per share for a total amount of $80,745. Mr. Martin increased his stake by 0.95% to 15,979 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $11.6

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 7,000 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $10.03 per share for a total amount of $70,235. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. iGATE Corporation (IGTE): $30.82

Shares of this outsourced IT services provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Ashok Trivedi sold 358,235 shares for $31.46, generating $11.27 million from the sale.
• Director Sunil Wadhwani sold 179,119 shares for $31.46, generating $5.63 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Wadhwani Partners No. 1 L.P.

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

2. Fastenal Company (FAST): $49.2

Director Robert A. Kierlin sold 100,000 shares of this industrial and construction materials retailer for $47.77, generating $4.78 million from the sale.

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

3. MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. (MWIV): $164.73

Director Robert N. Rebholtz Jr. sold 25,000 shares of this animal healthcare products company for $156.30, generating $3.91 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.

4. Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE): $52.63

Shares of this software company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Robert K. Burgess sold 50,000 shares for $51.87, generating $2.59 million from the sale. 25,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP, General Counsel & Secretary Michael A. Dillon sold 10,000 shares for $52.06, generating $520,602 from the sale.

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

5. Demandware, Inc. (DWRE): $50.87

Shares of this software-as-a-service e-commerce solutions provider were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director Lawrence S. Bohn sold 38,244 shares for $48.27, generating $1.85 million from the sale.
• Director Michael J. Skok sold 18,500 shares for $49.23, generating $910,772 from the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey G. Barnett sold 3,333 shares for $49.50, generating $164,976 from the sale.
• Director Charles Kane sold 2,728 shares for $49.87, generating $136,049 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 Demandware, Inc. here.

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