Insider Weekends – August 15, 2014

  • August 17, 2014

Welcome to edition 217 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased significantly last week with insiders buying $33.73 million of stock compared to $113.26 million in the week prior. Selling also declined with insiders selling $812.44 million of stock last week compared to $961.05 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 24.1. In other words, insiders sold more than 24 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 8.49. 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 August 15, 2014
Insider Sell Buy Ratio August 15, 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. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY): $11.76

Shares of this mortgage REIT were acquired by 2 insiders:

  • Chief Legal Officer Nicholas R. Singh acquired 122,784 shares, paying $11.46 per share for a total amount of $1.41 million. Mr. Singh increased his stake by 66.87% to 306,400 shares with this purchase. 9,284 of these shares were acquired indirectly through a 401(k) Plan.
  • Chairman of Board & CEO Wellington Denahan acquired 86,837 shares, paying $11.52 per share for a total amount of $1 million. Mr. Denahan increased his stake by 6.74% to 1,374,918 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: 4.38Forward P/E: 9.72Industry P/E: 21.49
P/S: 6.35Price/Book: 0.88EV/EBITDA: N/A
Market Cap: $11.14BAvg. Daily Volume: 7,036,83052 Week Range: $9.66 – $12.61

2. Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO): $9.37

Shares of this biotech company were acquired by 2 insiders:

  • Chief Executive Officer Jong Joseph Kim acquired 250,000 shares, paying $9.06 per share for a total amount of $2.26 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by a Family Limited Partnership.
  • Chief Operating Officer Niranjan Sardesai acquired 2,550 shares, paying $8.70 per share for a total amount of $22,185. Mr. Sardesai increased his stake by 10.02% to 28,000 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 32.01
P/S: 32.62Price/Book: 4.65EV/EBITDA: -17.26
Market Cap: $565.93MAvg. Daily Volume: 1,880,87052 Week Range: $4.88 – $15.8

3. Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM): $23

Executive Chairman Milton Cooper acquired 50,000 shares of this retail REIT, paying $22.22 per share for a total amount of $1.1 million. Mr. Cooper increased his stake by 0.52% to 9,747,977 shares with this purchase.

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

P/E: 48.32Forward P/E: 15.86Industry P/E: 31.55
P/S: 9.41Price/Book: 2.04EV/EBITDA: 22.82
Market Cap: $9.45BAvg. Daily Volume: 2,393,88052 Week Range: $19.22 – $23.82

4. AT&T, Inc. (T): $34.74

Director Matthew K. Rose acquired 30,000 shares of AT&T, paying $34.65 per share for a total amount of $1.04 million. Mr. Rose increased his stake by 69.77% to 73,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for AT&T, Inc. here.

P/E: 10.13Forward P/E: 12.77Industry P/E: 12.75
P/S: 1.39Price/Book: 1.97EV/EBITDA: 5.45
Market Cap: $180.16BAvg. Daily Volume: 22,374,70052 Week Range: $31.74 – $37.48

5. TrueCar, Inc. (TRUE): $15.76

Shares of this online car shopping company were acquired by 3 insiders:

  • Director Christopher W. Claus acquired 30,000 shares, paying $14.18 per share for a total amount of $425,400.
  • CEO & Chairman of the Board Scott Painter acquired 20,976 shares, paying $14.14 per share for a total amount of $296,666. Mr. Painter increased his stake by 1.19% to 1,785,152 shares with this purchase.
  • Director Steven J. Dietz acquired 1,800 shares, paying $15.12 per share for a total amount of $27,208. These shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Dietz’s children.

It is interesting to see insiders buying shares at significantly higher prices than their prior purchases in the $9 to $10 range in May. Since we highlighted those purchases, the stock is up nearly 71% in less than three months.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 112.57Industry P/E: 66.77
P/S: 6.45Price/Book: 5.17EV/EBITDA: -32.51
Market Cap: $1.07BAvg. Daily Volume: 621,48752 Week Range: $9.05 – $16.89

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $73.63

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 283,334 shares of Facebook for $72.74, generating $20.61 million from the sale.

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

P/E: 95.5Forward P/E: 36.45Industry P/E: 33.46
P/S: 19.29Price/Book: 10.39EV/EBITDA: 33.1
Market Cap: $191.44BAvg. Daily Volume: 42,677,00052 Week Range: $37.14 – $76.74

2. Protective Life Corporation (PL): $69.22

Shares of this life insurance company were sold by 5 insiders:

  • CEO,President John D. Johns sold 201,398 shares for $69.24, generating $13.94 million from the sale.
  • EVP and CIO Carl S. Thigpen sold 27,353 shares for $69.36, generating $1.89 million from the sale.
  • EVP and General Counsel Deborah J. Long sold 15,063 shares for $69.34, generating $1.04 million from the sale.
  • Senior Vice President Steven G. Walker sold 7,285 shares for $69.33, generating $505,033 from the sale.
  • Senior VP, Chief Human Resources Officer Scott D. Adams sold 3,138 shares for $69.75, generating $218,876 from the sale.

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

P/E: 14.07Forward P/E: 13.16Industry P/E: 16.45
P/S: 1.33Price/Book: 1.15EV/EBITDA: 8.61
Market Cap: $5.46BAvg. Daily Volume: 1,661,00052 Week Range: $41.26 – $69.88

3. Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PCRX): $103.01

Director Andreas Wicki sold 150,000 shares of this drug manufacturer for $101.25, generating $15.19 million from the sale.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: 47.89Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 26.4Price/Book: 25.06EV/EBITDA: -135.75
Market Cap: $3.73BAvg. Daily Volume: 451,93152 Week Range: $35.75 – $104.68

4. Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (PLX): $2.72

Director Zeev Bronfeld sold 4,400,000 shares of this biotech company for $2.47, generating $10.87 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

P/E: N/AForward P/E: N/AIndustry P/E: 29.39
P/S: 17.35Price/Book: N/AEV/EBITDA: -10.2
Market Cap: $252.47MAvg. Daily Volume: 273,86452 Week Range: $2.45 – $5.6

5. RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ): $29.48

Executive Chairman Robert L. Johnson sold 288,300 shares of this hotel REIT  for $28.11, generating $8.1 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for RLJ Lodging Trust here.

P/E: 31.2Forward P/E: 19.27Industry P/E: N/A
P/S: 3.78Price/Book: 1.64EV/EBITDA: 16.37
Market Cap: $3.86BAvg. Daily Volume: 891,12352 Week Range: $22.56 – $30.01

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

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