Welcome to edition 219 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying declined sharply last week with insiders buying $18.96 million of stock compared to $32.38 million in the week prior. Selling edged up a little with insiders selling $932.22 million of stock last week compared to $897.75 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 49.17. In other words, insiders sold more than 49 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 27.74. 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 29, 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. Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO): $32.81

Chairman of the Board German Larrea Mota-Velasco acquired 200,000 shares of this copper mining company, paying $32.47 per share for a total amount of $6.49 million.

Southern Copper also made our list last week on account of a large purchase by Mr. Mota-Velasco.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Southern Copper Corp. here.

2. Rex Energy Corporation (REXX): $15.28

Shares of this oil & gas exploration company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Lance T. Shaner acquired 227,650 shares, paying $14.54 per share for a total amount of $3.3 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by various entities.
• CEO Thomas Charles Stabley acquired 3,000 shares, paying $15.39 per share for a total amount of $46,170. Mr. Stabley increased his stake by 0.33% to 915,700 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Rex Energy Corporation here.

3. PHI Inc. (PHII): $41.52

Chief Executive Officer Alton Anthony Gonsoulin acquired 30,428 shares of this helicopter transportation services provider, paying $40.99 per share for a total amount of $1.25 million. Mr. Gonsoulin increased his stake by 1.53% to 2,015,357 shares with this purchase.

While the company has half a billion dollars in long-term debt on its balance sheet, the company trades for just 6 times EBITDA with operating margins of 13% and high single digit revenue growth.

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

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.9

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 61,000 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $8.82 per share for a total amount of $538,033. 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. Ciber, Inc. (CBR): $3.82

Director Bobby G. Stevenson acquired 116,435 shares of this information technology services company, paying $3.84 per share for a total amount of $446,931. Mr. Stevenson increased his stake by 1.94% to 6,106,434 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. L Brands, Inc. (LB): $63.85

Chairman and CEO Leslie H. Wexner sold 2,000,000 shares of this apparel chain for $62.64, generating $125.28 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly though a trust.

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

2. Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ICPT): $289.72

Shares of this drug manufacturer were sold by 6 insiders:

• Director Jonathan Silverstein sold 111,258 shares for $298.06, generating $33.16 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by OrbiMed Private Investments.
• CMO and EVP – Development David Shapiro sold 10,000 shares for $293.93, generating $2.94 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Nicole Williams sold 2,433 shares for $295.08, generating $717,919 from the sale.

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

3. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (APAM): $55.48

Director Tench Coxe sold 503,308 shares of this asset management company for $56.44, generating $28.41 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by various entities.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. here.

4. Western Refining, Inc. (WNR): $46.53

Chairman of BOD, Executive Chair Paul L. Foster sold 500,000 shares of this crude oil refining company for $46.12, generating $23.06 million from the sale. 250,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Franklin Mountain Investments Limited Partnership.

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

5. Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (CSII): $28.49

Shares of this medical device company were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director Augustine Lawlor sold 361,235 shares for $28.05, generating $10.13 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by HealthCare Ventures VI, L.P.
• Chief Financial Officer Laurence L. Betterley sold 6,578 shares for $29.02, generating $190,901 from the sale.
• Chief Healthcare Policy Officer Robert J. Thatcher sold 3,225 shares for $29.06, generating $93,726 from the sale.
• SVP Quality & Operations Paul A. Koehn sold 2,755 shares for $29.06, generating $80,066 from the sale.

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