Insider Weekends – January 17, 2014

  • January 18, 2014

Welcome to edition 187 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased last week with insiders purchasing $17.78 million of their stock compared to $3.38 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $831.24 million of stock last week compared to $702.52 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 decreased to 46.76. In other words, insiders sold almost 47 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at a record 207.91. 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 January 17, 2014
Insider Sell Buy Ratio January 17, 2014

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. Dycom Industries Inc. (DY): $28.80

Director Charles B. Coe acquired 15,000 shares of this engineering and specialty contracting services provider, paying $27.99 per share for a total amount of $419,850. Mr. Coe increased his stake by 95.04% to 30,782 shares with this purchase.

This is the most interesting purchase of the group of insider purchases this week. The company is growing revenue rapidly and trades at a reasonable 7 times EBITDA.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Dycom Industries Inc. here.

P/E: 23.3Forward P/E: 15.32Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.53Price/Book: 2.06EV/EBITDA: 7.14
Market Cap: $972.14MAvg. Daily Volume: 182,17152 Week Range: $17.87 – $31.75

2. Synergy Resources Corporation (SYRG): $8.62

Director George L. Seward acquired 34,415 shares of this oil and natural gas exploration company, paying $8.71 per share for a total amount of $299,661. Mr. Seward increased his stake by 1.75% to 1,999,990 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: 41.64Forward P/E: 10.64Industry P/E: 12.41
P/S: 11.7Price/Book: 2.74EV/EBITDA: 17.29
Market Cap: $655.06MAvg. Daily Volume: 584,14052 Week Range: $5.65 – $11.4

3. Retrophin, Inc. (RTRX): $13.1

Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli acquired 8,000 shares of this biotech company, paying $10.84 per share for a total amount of $86,694. Mr. Shkreli increased his stake by 0.28% to 2,830,022 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: N/A
P/S: N/APrice/Book: N/AEV/EBITDA: -5.42
Market Cap: $240.79MAvg. Daily Volume: 85,20252 Week Range: $3.1 – $14

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.72

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 8,200 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $8.59 per share for a total amount of $70,423. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments 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: 27.11
P/S: 38.98Price/Book: 4.11EV/EBITDA: -94.3
Market Cap: $3.56BAvg. Daily Volume: 4,606,40052 Week Range: $5.87 – $12.95

5. Misonix Inc. (MSON): $5.315

Director Thomas F. Oneill acquired 22,500 shares of this medical devices company, paying $2.58 per share for a total amount of $57,975. Mr. Oneill increased his stake by 102.27% to 44,500 shares with this purchase.

Something doesn’t seem right about this filing as the purchase price is well below current market price. This could very well be an options exercise filed with the wrong transaction code.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 40.88Industry P/E: 27.11
P/S: 2.96Price/Book: 3EV/EBITDA: -5.78
Market Cap: $38.25MAvg. Daily Volume: 12,41552 Week Range: $2.98 – $7.97

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Guess’ Inc. (GES): $29.17

Director Maurice Marciano sold 1,000,000 shares of this apparel and accessories retailer for $29.48, generating $29.48 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Guess’ Inc. here.

P/E: 15.94Forward P/E: 14.23Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.95Price/Book: 2.24EV/EBITDA: 6.25
Market Cap: $2.48BAvg. Daily Volume: 808,52552 Week Range: $24.31 – $34.94

2. G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (GIII): $71.43

Shares of this apparel manufacturer were sold by 3 insiders:

  • Chief Executive Officer Morris Goldfarb sold 200,000 shares for $70.90, generating $14.18 million from the sale.
  • Director Jeffrey David Goldfarb sold 30,000 shares for $70.82, generating $2.12 million from the sale.
  • Director Katz Jeanette Nostra sold 12,500 shares for $71.83, generating $897,834 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. here.

P/E: 20.39Forward P/E: 16.73Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 0.9Price/Book: 2.88EV/EBITDA: 11.65
Market Cap: $1.46BAvg. Daily Volume: 245,76252 Week Range: $34.86 – $74.88

3. FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS): $106.89

Shares of this information services company were sold by 2 insiders:

  • CEO & Chairman Philip A. Hadley sold 115,000 shares for $107.61, generating $12.37 million from the sale.
  • Director Joseph E. Laird Jr. sold 4,500 shares for $107.70, generating $484,650 from the sale.

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

P/E: 23.6Forward P/E: 19.4Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 5.32Price/Book: 8.5EV/EBITDA: 13.4
Market Cap: $4.57BAvg. Daily Volume: 318,75952 Week Range: $88.67 – $119.08

4. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): $62.88

Shares of this network security company were sold by 4 insiders:

  • VP, Engineering Rajiv Batra sold 101,923 shares for $62.51, generating $6.37 million from the sale.
  • Director Asheem Chandna sold 26,250 shares for $60.04, generating $1.58 million from the sale.
  • CTO Nir Zuk sold 1,923 shares for $58.97, generating $113,396 from the sale.
  • Chief Marketing Officer Rene Bonvanie sold 283 shares for $58.97, generating $16,689 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. here.

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 83.84Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 10.53Price/Book: 15.93EV/EBITDA: -598.53
Market Cap: $4.56BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,125,97052 Week Range: $39.08 – $64.92

5. Pfizer Inc. (PFE): $31.09

Executive Vice President Frank A. Damelio sold 160,000 shares of this drug manufacturer for $30.83, generating $4.93 million from the sale.

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

P/E: 8.58Forward P/E: 13.64Industry P/E: 17.78
P/S: 3.59Price/Book: 2.59EV/EBITDA: 8.2
Market Cap: $201.50BAvg. Daily Volume: 24,571,00052 Week Range: $26.42 – $32.5

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

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