Insider buying more than doubled last week with insiders buying $252.12 million of stock compared to $87.63 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand decreased with insiders selling $693.93 million of stock last week compared to $825.55 million in the week prior.

We had another volatile week in the equity markets with little overall impact as the S&P 500 ended the week only down 0.81%. Commodities like oil and natural gas however saw continued selling pressure with WTI brent crude down more than 15% to $26.05 on Thursday before rebounding on Friday to close down 4.69% for the week. Gold, in contrast, continues to rally with double digit gains this year as central banks in Japan, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland have cut interest rates into negative territory. The big concern last week was related to European banks and Deutsche Bank (DB) saw its stock drop significantly early in the week before rebounding towards the end of the week. Weakness in JPMorgan’s stock was also offset by a 8% rally on Friday thanks in part to a $26.59 million purchase by its CEO as discussed below.

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 2.75. In other words, insiders sold almost 3 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 9.42. 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. Tempur Sealy International Inc. (TPX): $54.13

Shares of this bedding products company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Usman Nabi acquired 925,000 shares, paying $52.92 per share for a total amount of $48.95 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by H Partners Capital, LLC.
• Director Richard W. Neu acquired 20,000 shares, paying $54.93 per share for a total amount of $1.09 million. Mr. Neu increased his stake by 4576.66% to 20,437 shares with this purchase.
• Director Jon L. Luther acquired 5,000 shares, paying $53.72 per share for a total amount of $268,600. Mr. Luther increased his stake by 444.84% to 6,124 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Tempur Sealy International Inc. here.

2. Post Holdings, Inc. (POST): $65.75

Director William P. Stiritz acquired 549,642 shares of this ready-to-eat cereal products company, paying $63.65 per share for a total amount of $34.98 million. Mr. Stiritz increased his stake by 103.25% to 1,081,996 shares with this purchase. 149,907 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Stiritz’s spouse and 199,735 shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

3. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): $57.49

Chairman & CEO James Dimon acquired 500,000 shares of JP Morgan, paying $53.18 per share for a total amount of $26.59 million. Mr. Dimon increased his stake by 13.02% to 4,340,740 shares with this purchase. 170,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly by various trusts and entities.

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

4. Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (ENH): $61.22

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer John Charman acquired 420,260 shares of this insurance company, paying $60.79 per share for a total amount of $25.55 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by various trusts.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. here.

5. Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN): $69.14

Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Wynn acquired 258,523 shares of this resorts & casinos operator, paying $58.19 per share for a total amount of $15.04 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Wynn Family Limited Partnership.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Wynn Resorts Ltd. here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $50.5

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 2 insiders:

• Founder Bill Gates sold 3,000,000 shares for $51.50, generating $154.49 million from the sale.
• EVP, Chief Marketing Officer Christopher C. Capossela sold 15,000 shares for $50.16, generating $752,365 from the sale.

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

2. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $102.01

Shares of Facebook were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Jan Koum sold 1,147,624 shares for $99.55, generating $114.24 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• VP, Gen. Counsel & Secretary Colin Stretch sold 1,000 shares for $97.10, generating $97,100 from the sale.

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

3. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (HA): $36.25

Director Zac Hirzel sold 304,867 shares of this airline company for $34.46, generating $10.51 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Hirzel Capital.

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

4. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPWR): $56.76

Shares of this semiconductor company were sold by 5 insiders:

• CEO Michael Hsing sold 90,416 shares for $57.93, generating $5.24 million from the sale.
• CFO Meera Rao sold 24,093 shares for $59.49, generating $1.43 million from the sale.
• Pres. of MPS Asia Operations Deming Xiao sold 6,360 shares for $57.50, generating $365,690 from the sale.
• Sr. V.P.of Sales and Marketing Maurice Sciammas sold 5,413 shares for $57.52, generating $311,347 from the sale.
• VP & General Counsel Saria Tseng sold 5,413 shares for $57.52, generating $311,345 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. here.

5. Philip Morris International, Inc. (PM): $89.06

Director Louis C. Camilleri sold 80,000 shares of this cigarettes company for $88.20, generating $7.06 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Philip Morris International, Inc. here.

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