Welcome to edition 248 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying more than doubled last week with insiders buying $148.24 million of stock compared to $73.39 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $1.51 billion of stock last week compared to $1.24 billion 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 10.16. In other words, insiders sold more than 10 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 16.89. 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 March 20, 2015

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. Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (EVHC): $38.6

Director Richard J. Schnall acquired 100,000 shares of this medical staffing and services provider, paying $36.73 per share for a total amount of $3.67 million.

Mr. Schnall is a partner of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a firm that facilitates acquisitions. He has served on Envision’s board since 2011 but this is the first time we have seen him purchase shares of Envision or any other public company as reported on form 4 filings since we started tracking this data in 2010.

While low single digit margins are slim and valuation appears high, the company has been growing by leaps and bounds and is worth exploring further.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc. here.

2. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC): $95.97

Director Andrew T. Feldstein acquired 22,000 shares of this financial services company, paying $95.84 per share for a total amount of $2.11 million.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. here.

3. Taubman Centers, Inc. (TCO): $80.53

Shares of this retail REIT were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer William S. Taubman acquired 12,100 shares, paying $77.42 per share for a total amount of $936,735. These shares were purchased indirectly through UTMA accounts for the benefit of the reporting person’s children.
• President, CEO, AND Chair BOD Robert S. Taubman acquired 7,100 shares, paying $78.61 per share for a total amount of $558,122. These shares were purchased indirectly through UTMA accounts for the benefit of the reporting person’s children.

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

4. Five9, Inc. (FIVN): $5.48

Director Jack L. Acosta acquired 200,000 shares of this cloud contact center software provider, paying $4.50 per share for a total amount of $900,000. These shares were purchased indirectly by Jack L. Acosta & Susan J. Acosta Co – T.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Five9, Inc. here.

5. Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH): $19.91

President & CEO Jeremy B. Ford acquired 24,938 shares of this business and consumer banking services provider, paying $20.00 per share for a total amount of $498,822. Mr. Ford increased his stake by 20.24% to 148,138 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Globus Medical, Inc. (GMED): $24.61

Chief Executive Officer David C. Paul sold 1,922,000 shares of this medical device company for $25.00, generating $48.05 million from the sale.

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

2. Twitter, Inc. (TWTR): $48.44

Shares of Twitter were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Evan Clark Williams sold 468,000 shares for $46.63, generating $21.83 million from the sale. 439,920 of these shares were sold indirectly through various trusts.
• Vice President of Product Kevin Weil sold 5,461 shares for $46.49, generating $253,865 from the sale.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Twitter.

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

3. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $79.38

Shares of this software-as-a-service provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 203,600 shares for $80.06, generating $16.3 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Michael Scarpelli sold 40,000 shares for $76.53, generating $3.06 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Daniel McGee sold 20,000 shares for $80.00, generating $1.6 million from the sale. 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 ServiceNow, Inc. here.

4. Diamond Resorts International, Inc. (DRII): $34.58

Director Stephen J. Cloobeck sold 571,187 shares of this hospitality and vacation ownership company for $32.99, generating $18.84 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Cloobeck Diamond Parent, LLC

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Diamond Resorts International, Inc. here.

5. Mohawk Industries Inc. (MHK): $181.03

Member of group Suzanne L. Helen sold 62,025 shares of this home flooring products company for $179.09, generating $11.11 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

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