Insider Weekends – Insiders at Wells Fargo Buy $5 Million Worth of Stock

Welcome to edition 357 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased with insiders buying $58.58 million of stock compared to $49.51 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand decreased with insiders selling $386.44 million of stock last week compared to $408.7 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 dropped to 6.6. In other words, insiders sold almost 7 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 8.25.

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. Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): $53

Shares of this bank were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Stephen W. Sanger acquired 58,342 shares, paying $51.65 per share for a total amount of $3.01 million.
• CEO & President Timothy J. Sloan acquired 39,000 shares, paying $51.65 per share for a total amount of $2.01 million. Mr. Sloan increased his stake by 5.45% to 754,581 shares with this purchase.

It was interesting to see these insiders of Wells Fargo buy stock even as Warren Buffett was selling down his stake. However it appears that Mr. Buffett’s recent sales were not prompted by the recent scandals that hit Wells Fargo or because of an investment decision but rather to bring down Berkshire’s stake after buybacks at Wells Fargo pushed his stake above the 10% ownership threshold. While the stock has underperformed peers over the last year, it still managed to post a gain of nearly 5% and has outperformed Goldman Sachs (GS) since the start of 2017.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Wells Fargo & Company here.

2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): $84.52

Director James S. Crown acquired 11,500 shares of JP Morgan, paying $85.48 per share for a total amount of $982,991. These shares were purchased indirectly in the reporting owner’s IRA account and by his spouse.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for JPMorgan Chase & Co. here.

3. New Age Beverages Corporation (NBEV): $3.74

Shares of this beverage company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Ed Brennan acquired 110,500 shares, paying $4.51 per share for a total amount of $498,355.
• Director Timothy J. Haas acquired 15,000 shares, paying $3.85 per share for a total amount of $57,678.
• Director Gregory Fea acquired 5,500 shares, paying $4.35 per share for a total amount of $23,940.

This is an interesting beverage company focused on natural and healthy beverages like kombucha and “functional” water. It up listed on Nasdaq in February and acquired two beverage companies recently including the company that makes the Coco-Libre branded coconut water, a personal favorite of yours truly.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for New Age Beverages Corporation here.

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $7.47

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 56,400 shares of this devices and drug development company, paying $7.37 per share for a total amount of $415,757. These shares were purchased indirectly by Frost Gamma Investments Trust.

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

5. Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (TCBI): $74.65

President and CEO Keith C. Cargill acquired 5,000 shares of this regional bank, paying $73.57 per share for a total amount of $367,850. Mr. Cargill increased his stake by 6.92% to 77,286 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $143.68

Shares of Facebook were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 163,500 shares for $141.27, generating $23.09 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Product Officer Christopher K. Cox sold 16,000 shares for $143.95, generating $2.3 million from the sale.
• VP and General Counsel Colin Stretch sold 750 shares for $141.27, generating $105,953 from the sale.

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

2. Workday, Inc. (WDAY): $85

Shares of this application software company were sold by 8 insiders:

• Co-President Mark S. Peek sold 32,443 shares for $83.36, generating $2.7 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Robynne Sisco sold 18,965 shares for $83.42, generating $1.58 million from the sale.
• Chief Executive Officer Aneel Bhusri sold 13,252 shares for $83.15, generating $1.1 million from the sale.
• co-President Philip W. Wilmington sold 12,949 shares for $83.16, generating $1.08 million from the sale.
• SVP, General Counsel & Secty James P. Shaughnessy sold 10,867 shares for $83.50, generating $907,414 from the sale. 5,375 of these  shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• COO & Executive Vice President James Bozzini sold 10,678 shares for $83.15, generating $887,878 from the sale.
• Director Michael A. Stankey sold 8,732 shares for $83.16, generating $726,132 from the sale.
• Director David A. Duffield sold 4,862 shares for $83.28, generating $404,890 from the sale.

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

3. Red Hat, Inc. (RHT): $87.02

Shares of this open source software company were sold by 4 insiders:

• CEO & President James M. Whitehurst sold 31,030 shares for $86.69, generating $2.69 million from the sale.
• EVP, Products & Technologies Paul J. Cormier sold 18,482 shares for $87.43, generating $1.62 million from the sale.
• EVP, Chief People Officer Delisa Alexander sold 9,110 shares for $86.61, generating $789,016 from the sale.
• EVP, General Counsel Michael Cunningham sold 8,000 shares for $87.15, generating $697,200 from the sale.

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

4. Tyler Technologies, Inc. (TYL): $158.56

Director Larry D. Leinweber sold 27,700 shares of this information management solutions and services provider for $155.13, generating $4.29 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

5. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (SAM): $139.05

Chairman C. James Koch sold 30,000 shares of this beverage company for $139.47, generating $4.18 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Boston Beer Company, Inc. here.

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

Disclaimer: I hold a long position in Workday (WDAY). 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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