Insider Weekends – February 1, 2013

Welcome to edition 139 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased with insiders purchasing $34.13 million of their stock last week compared to $25.42 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.03 billion of stock last week compared to $701.64 million in the week prior.

One noteworthy sale that is not included in the top 5 sales below because it was sale by a fund manager, was Dan Loeb’s sale of 11 million shares of Yahoo! (YHOO) for a total of $216.64 million. The fund continues to hold 62 million shares of  Yahoo! after this sale.

Third Point’s Dan Loeb picked up a large stake in Yahoo in the first quarter of 2012. He then waged a proxy battle with Yahoo! to get himself and a slate of three additional directors appointed to Yahoo’s board of directors and to replace CEO Scott Thompson. Mr. Loeb even launched an interesting website called Value Yahoo! making his case for why Yahoo! needed a change of leadership and direction. Dan Loeb managed to get himself elected to Yahoo’s board and as we reported last July, he purchased an additional 2.5 million shares at an average price of $15.77 following the appointment of Marissa Mayer as the new CEO of the company.

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 30.23. In other words, insiders sold more than 30 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 27.6. 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 February 1, 2013

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. National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ): $13.81

EVP Finance George R. Bracken acquired 400,000 shares of this beverage company, paying $50.00 per share for a total amount of $20 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a limited liability company.

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

2. Kronos Worldwide Inc. (KRO): $19.28

Chairman of the Board Harold C. Simmons acquired 105,000 shares of this specialty chemicals company, paying $19.81 per share for a total amount of $2.08 million. Mr. Simmons increased his stake by 13.50% to 882,840 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Valhi, Inc. (VHI): $16.03

Chairman of the Board Harold C. Simmons acquired 29,055 shares of this chemicals and toxic waste management company, paying $15.77 per share for a total amount of $458,194. Mr. Simmons increased his stake by 1.62% to 1,827,453 shares with this purchase.

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

4. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): $47.85

Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 6,750 shares of this global financial services firm, paying $46.93 per share for a total amount of $316,778. Mr. Flynn increased his stake by 82.84% to 14,898 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Synergy Resources Corporation (SYRG): $6.64

Director George L. Seward acquired 50,000 shares of this oil and natural gas exploration company, paying $5.86 per share for a total amount of $293,000. These shares were purchased indirectly by A and S Genetics, a partnership over which Mr. Seward has investment control.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN): $33.72

Shares of this semiconductor company were sold by 10 insiders:

• Sr. Vice President Niels Anderskouv sold 120,834 shares for $33.02, generating $3.99 million from the sale. 56,250 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Kevin J. Ritchie sold 83,334 shares for $32.83, generating $2.74 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Gregory R. Delagi sold 73,334 shares for $32.82, generating $2.41 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President John J. Szczsponik sold 58,334 shares for $32.83, generating $1.92 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Robert K. Novak sold 57,500 shares for $33.08, generating $1.9 million from the sale. 25,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Brian T. Crutcher sold 46,926 shares for $33.40, generating $1.57 million from the sale. 25,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Sr. Vice President David K. Heacock sold 46,668 shares for $32.83, generating $1.53 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Stephen A. Anderson sold 33,334 shares for $32.84, generating $1.09 million from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Melendy E. Lovett sold 25,000 shares for $32.83, generating $820,840 from the sale.
• Sr. Vice President Sami Kiriaki sold 6,734 shares for $32.82, generating $221,010 from the sale.

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

2. Raymond James Financial, Inc. (RJF): $45.3

Shares of this investment brokerage were sold by 4 insiders:

• Executive Chairman Thomas A. James sold 300,000 shares for $44.56, generating $13.37 million from the sale.
• Executive Vice President Chester B. Helck sold 25,000 shares for $44.51, generating $1,112,655 from the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Dennis W. Zank sold 19,861 shares for $44.50, generating $883,894 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• CFO, Executive VP Finance Jeffrey P. Julien sold 11,908 shares for $44.35, generating $528,176 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Raymond James Financial, Inc. here.

3. NVR Inc. (NVR): $1023

Shares of this home builder were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Dwight C. Schar sold 5,262 shares for $1,019.64, generating $5.37 million from the sale.
• Controller Eugene James Bredow sold 450 shares for $1,024.70, generating $461,116 from the sale.
• Director Robert C. Butler sold 160 shares for $1,008.52, generating $161,363 from the sale.

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

4. Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): $56.86

President Starbucks Coffee EMEA Michelle Gass sold 104,449 shares of Starbucks for $55.62, generating $5.81 million from the sale. 69,449 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 Starbucks Corporation here.

5. MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (PCS): $9.89

Shares of this wireless telecommunications company were sold by 2 insiders:

• CEO Roger D. Linquist sold 400,002 shares for $10.01, generating $4 million from the sale. 160,002 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immedaitely prior to the sale.
• SVP & Chief Technology Officer Malcolm M. Lorang sold 175,381 shares for $10.01, generating $1.76 million from the sale. 77,181 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immedaitely prior to the sale.

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

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