In a week that marked the worst start to a year in the history of the S&P 500, insiders stepped up their purchases significantly, buying $132.61 million of stock compared to $42.25 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $439.57 million of stock last week compared to $359.11 million in the week prior.

With the energy and commodities sector hit the worst, we were not surprised to see a lot of insider purchases in energy companies and companies that provide infrastructure services to the energy sector. We expect to see a larger spike in insider buying once the earnings related quiet period ends in a couple of weeks.

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 3.31. In other words, insiders sold more than 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 8.49. 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. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD): $24.25

Director Randa Duncan Williams acquired 3,830,256 shares of this independent oil & gas company, paying $26.11 per share for a total amount of $100 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through various trusts.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Enterprise Products Partners L.P. here.

2. FS Investment Corporation (FSIC): $8.64

Chief Executive Officer Michael C. Forman acquired 276,164 shares of this business development company, paying $8.76 per share for a total amount of $2.42 million. Mr. Forman increased his stake by 64.90% to 701,719 shares with this purchase. 87,797 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Franklin Square Holdings.

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

3. Layne Christensen Company (LAYN): $4.86

Director Nelson Obus acquired 385,939 shares of this water management, construction and drilling company, paying $5.24 per share for a total amount of $2.02 million. Mr. Obus increased his stake by 73.26% to 912,744 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Layne Christensen Company here.

4. Actuant Corporation (ATU): $22.11

Shares of this diversified machinery company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Executive Vice President – CFO Andrew Lampereur acquired 36,400 shares, paying $23.65 per share for a total amount of $860,892. Mr. Lampereur increased his stake by 10.80% to 373,458 shares with this purchase.
• EVP-Human Resources Eugene Edward Skogg acquired 25,000 shares, paying $23.79 per share for a total amount of $594,750. Mr. Skogg increased his stake by 49.59% to 75,415 shares with this purchase.

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

5. JMP Group LLC (JMP): $5.38

CEO Joseph A. Jolson acquired 249,725 shares of this financial services firm, paying $5.40 per share for a total amount of $1.35 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for JMP Group LLC here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $78.12

Shares of this software-as-a-service provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 204,400 shares for $80.42, generating $16.44 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• President & CEO Frank Slootman sold 150,000 shares for $83.82, generating $12.57 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.

2. ePlus inc. (PLUS): $92.45

President and CEO Phillip G. Norton sold 57,750 shares of this IT solutions provider for $92.25, generating $5.33 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by J.A.P. Investment Group, L.P.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for ePlus inc. here.

3. salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): $73.23

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

• Chairman of the Board & CEO Marc Benioff sold 62,500 shares for $75.68, generating $4.73 million from the sale.
• Co-Founder Parker Harris sold 5,000 shares for $77.20, generating $386,021 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director John Victor Roos sold 267 shares for $77.07, generating $20,578 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for salesforce.com, inc. here.

4. ARRIS International plc (ARRS): $27.32

Shares of this media entertainment and data communications solutions provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• President, North American Sales Timothy R. O’Loughlin sold 119,567 shares for $29.78, generating $3.56 million from the sale.
• SVP, Chief Information Officer Philip Charles Baldock sold 54,687 shares for $29.07, generating $1.59 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for ARRIS International plc here.

5. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS): $39.01

Shares of this resorts & casinos operator were sold by 2 insiders:

• President & COO Robert G. Goldstein sold 97,943 shares for $42.25, generating $4.14 million from the sale.
• Pres & CEO/Marina Bay Sands George Tanasijevich sold 6,341 shares for $43.77, generating $277,533 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp. here.

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