Insider Weekends: July 1, 2016

Welcome to edition 315 of Insider Weekends and a happy fourth of July weekend to all of you. I just got back from a trip to Hawaii and the island of Oahu was absolutely stunning. Given below are a couple of pictures of Hanauma Bay on the island of Oahu where I tried snorkeling for the first time and spotted Hawaii’s national fish called the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (try pronouncing that one).

Getting back to the investing, Insider buying decreased by half last week with insiders buying $53.24 million of stock compared to $124.52 million in the week prior. Selling increased with insiders selling $984.67 million of stock last week compared to $462.5 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 increased to 18.49. In other words, insiders sold  more than 18 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 3.71. 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. Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PRTK): $13.67

Shares of this biotech company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Richard J. Lim acquired 461,538 shares, paying $13.00 per share for a total amount of $5.99 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a fund.
• Chairman and CEO Michael Bigham acquired 20,000 shares, paying $13.45 per share for a total amount of $269,014. Mr. Bigham increased his stake by 25.00% to 100,000 shares with this purchase.

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

2. Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (AXDX): $16.22

Director Jack W. Schuler acquired 90,147 shares of this in vitro diagnostics company, paying $13.95 per share for a total amount of $1.26 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

3. NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NSH): $25.36

Director William E. Greehey acquired 40,000 shares of this oil & gas pipeline company, paying $25.15 per share for a total amount of $1.01 million. These shares were purchased indirectly.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NuStar GP Holdings, LLC here.

4. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG): $38.65

President and CEO Jack A. Fusco acquired 29,000 shares of this liquefied natural gas company, paying $34.27 per share for a total amount of $993,760. Mr. Fusco increased his stake by 11.22% to 287,378 shares with this purchase. 14,500 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Fusco Energy Investments, LLP.

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

5. Leucadia National Corporation (LUK): $17.47

Director Patrick W. Campbell acquired 56,737 shares of this diversified holding company, paying $17.15 per share for a total amount of $973,040. Mr. Campbell increased his stake by 110.85% to 107,920 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $114.19

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Jan Koum sold 1,434,530 shares for $109.64, generating $157.29 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Product Officer Christopher K. Cox sold 15,600 shares for $109.68, generating $1.71 million from the sale.

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

2. Sun Communities Inc. (SUI): $76.37

Chairman and CEO Gary A. Shiffman sold 115,521 shares of this residential REIT for $75.94, generating $8.77 million from the sale.

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

3. Accenture plc (ACN): $113.52

Shares of this management and technology consulting company were sold by 7 insiders:

• Chairman & CEO Pierre Nanterme sold 46,739 shares for $111.32, generating $5.2 million from the sale.
• Group Chief Exec-Products Alexander M. Van’t Noordende sold 7,929 shares for $109.88, generating $871,246 from the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Johan Deblaere sold 5,000 shares for $109.88, generating $549,382 from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer David Rowland sold 4,553 shares for $109.84, generating $500,108 from the sale.
• Chief Human Resources Officer Ellyn Shook sold 3,200 shares for $109.85, generating $351,533 from the sale.
• Group Chief Exec-Resources Jean-Marc Ollagnier sold 2,237 shares for $109.82, generating $245,666 from the sale.
• Group Chief Executive-Fin Serv Richard Lumb sold 1,250 shares for $109.88, generating $137,351 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Accenture plc here.

4. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE): $252.74

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 24,606 shares of this financial services and brokerage company for $251.95, generating $6.19 million from the sale. 9,606 of 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 Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. here.

5. Adobe Systems Incorporated (ADBE): $95.32

Shares of this software company were sold by 4 insiders:

• EVP & GM, Digital Marketing Bradley Rencher sold 37,562 shares for $95.46, generating $3.59 million from the sale.
• EVP & GM, Digital Media Bryan Lamkin sold 9,616 shares for $95.04, generating $913,905 from the sale.
• Director John E. Warnock sold 4,000 shares for $95.15, generating $380,605 from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• VP, Corp. Controller & CAO Richard Rowley sold 271 shares for $95.68, generating $25,929 from the sale.

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

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

Disclaimer Clients of Signal Partners, LLC  and I may have positions in any of these stocks at any time. Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned in this article. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided in this article.

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