Welcome to edition 261 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying dropped sharply last week with insiders buying $43.68 million of stock compared to $106.45 million in the week prior. Selling also declined with insiders selling $953.04 million of stock last week compared to $2.37 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 21.82. In other words, insiders sold almost 22 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 22.26. 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 June 19, 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. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX): $228.22

Executive Vice President Robert L. Rosiello acquired 12,900 shares of this Canadian pharmaceutical company, paying $232.51 per share for a total amount of $2.99 million.

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

LUB

2. Luby’s, Inc. (LUB): $5.05

President and CEO Christopher James Pappas acquired 125,000 shares of this restaurant chain, paying $5.13 per share for a total amount of $641,649. Mr. Pappas increased his stake by 3.33% to 3,880,757 shares with this purchase.

Mr. Pappas has acquired shares several times this year even as the stock has continued to edge up. The company had 94 LUB Luby’s Cafeterias, 72 Fuddruckers, 8 Cheeseburger in Paradise and 1 Bob Luby’s Seafood restaurant at the end of fiscal Q3 2015 ended May 6, 2015. The business has been in transition for a while as Luby’s has been shutting down Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants and investing in “combo” locations that include side-by-side a Luby’s Cafeteria and a Fuddruckers.

While income from continuing operations was up 50% to 9 cents a share and debt declined by $6.5 million, a 1.1% same store sales decline was a concern in the last quarter.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Luby’s, Inc. here.

3. M&T Bank Corporation (MTB): $125.63

Director Robert T. Brady acquired 8,000 shares of this regional bank, paying $121.35 per share for a total amount of $970,800. These shares were acquired indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for M&T Bank Corporation here.

4. OCI Partners LP (OCIP): $17.2

Director Nassef Sawiris acquired 51,199 shares of OCIP, an  ammonia and methanol  production company, paying $17.22 per share for a total amount of $881,455. These shares were purchased indirectly by NNS Holding.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for OCI Partners LP here.

5. Ferrellgas Partners LP (FGP): $22.98

Shares of this propane distribution company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• CEO and President Stephen L. Wambold acquired 25,000 shares, paying $23.20 per share for a total amount of $580,000. Mr. Wambold increased his stake by 23.81% to 130,000 shares with this purchase.
• Director Daniel G. Kaye acquired 7,000 shares, paying $23.10 per share for a total amount of $161,700. Mr. Kaye increased his stake by 233.33% to 10,000 shares with this purchase.
• EVP & COO Boyd H. McGathey acquired 5,000 shares, paying $23.19 per share for a total amount of $115,940. Mr. McGathey increased his stake by 25.00% to 25,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Ferrellgas Partners LP here.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $80.38

Shares of this software-as-a-service provider were sold by 4 insiders:

• Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 203,600 shares for $80.28, generating $16.34 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Financial Officer Michael Scarpelli sold 40,000 shares for $77.40, generating $3.09 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Chief Revenue Officer David Schneider sold 21,000 shares for $77.86, generating $1.64 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director William L. Strauss sold 10,000 shares for $80.05, generating $800,540 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. The Children’s Place, Inc. (PLCE): $65.01

President and CEO Jane T. Elfers sold 175,434 shares of this children’s clothing retailer for $64.51, generating $11.32 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Children’s Place, Inc. here.

3. FireEye, Inc. (FEYE): $53.65

Chief Strategy Officer Ashar Aziz sold 188,434 shares of this security software company for $54.39, generating $10.25 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

4. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE): $229.38

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 40,465 shares of this financial services and brokerage company for $234.90, generating $9.51 million from the sale. 10,209 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 Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. here.

5. G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (GIII): $69.17

CEO and President Morris Goldfarb sold 114,403 shares of this apparel company for $67.69, generating $7.74 million from the sale. 50,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Goldfarb Family Partners, LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. here.

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

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