Welcome to edition 197 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased last week with insiders purchasing $28.5 million of their stock compared to $54.45 million in the week prior. Selling declined sharply for a second week with insiders selling $675.91 million of stock last week compared to $1.49 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 down to 24.9. In other words, insiders sold almost 25 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 27.42. 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.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio March 28, 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. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $483.47

Shares of this restaurant holding company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chairman and CEO Sardar Biglari, acquired 6,076 shares, paying $496.66 per share for a total amount of $3.02 million. Mr. Biglari, increased his stake by 31.20% to 25,552 shares with this purchase.
• Director James P. Mastrian acquired 100 shares, paying $494.09 per share for a total amount of $49,409. These shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Mastrain’s spouse.

Activist hedge fund manager Sardar Biglari has used Biglari Holding to either acquire entire companies like the Steak n Shake restaurant chain or activist positions in companies like Cracker Barrel (CBRL). The Restaurant Investor is a very interesting profile of Sardar Biglari written by Max Olson, the CEO of Max Capital.

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

2. NuStar GP Holdings, LLC (NSH): $33.4

Director William E. Greehey acquired 65,198 shares of this oil & gas pipeline company, paying $32.30 per share for a total amount of $2.11 million. Mr. Greehey increased his stake by 0.80% to 8,218,198 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NuStar GP Holdings, LLC here.

3. American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. (ARCP): $13.94

Shares of this commercial real estate company were acquired by 6 insiders:

• Chairman of the BoD and CEO Nicholas S. Schorsch acquired 50,000 shares, paying $13.78 per share for a total amount of $688,790. Mr. Schorsch increased his stake by 1.40% to 3,614,657 shares with this purchase.
• Director William M. Kahane acquired 25,000 shares, paying $13.78 per share for a total amount of $344,395. Mr. Kahane increased his stake by 5.29% to 497,286 shares with this purchase.
• EVP, Treasurer, Secretary and CFO Brian S. Block acquired 20,000 shares, paying $13.80 per share for a total amount of $276,000. Mr. Block increased his stake by 2.21% to 926,379 shares with this purchase.
• President David S. Kay acquired 15,000 shares, paying $13.78 per share for a total amount of $206,698. Mr. Kay increased his stake by 5.99% to 265,315 shares with this purchase.
• Director Edward M. Weil acquired 10,000 shares, paying $13.80 per share for a total amount of $138,000. Mr. Weil increased his stake by 5.58% to 189,135 shares with this purchase.
• COO Lisa Beeson acquired 3,500 shares, paying $13.88 per share for a total amount of $48,566. Ms. Beeson increased her stake by 5.41% to 68,212 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. here.

4. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.96

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 147,900 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $9.21 per share for a total amount of $1.36 million. 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. Limoneira Company (LMNR): $22.84

Director Lecil E. Cole acquired 50,000 shares of this farm products company, paying $22.73 per share for a total amount of $1.14 million. Mr. Cole increased his stake by 525.15% to 59,521 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Carnival Corporation (CCL): $37.24

Chairman of the Board Micky Meir Arison sold 1,202,425 shares of this cruise ship operator for $40.14, generating $48.26 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through various trusts and other entities.

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

2. Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CBI): $85.06

Shares of this provider of engineering and construction services were sold by 5 insiders:

• Executive Vice President Edgar C. Ray sold 102,068 shares for $84.36, generating $8.61 million from the sale. 41,607 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Executive Vice President Daniel M. Mccarthy sold 26,029 shares for $85.92, generating $2.24 million from the sale.
• EVP and Chief Legal Officer Richard E. Chandler sold 20,801 shares for $84.79, generating $1.76 million from the sale.
• Director Richard L. Flury sold 12,410 shares for $85.08, generating $1.06 million from the sale.
• Director Marsha C. Williams sold 6,500 shares for $82.99, generating $539,435 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. here.

3. Dorman Products, Inc. (DORM): $58.01

Chief Executive Officer Steven L. Berman sold 74,920 shares of this auto parts supplier for $59.04, generating $4.42 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

4. Five Below, Inc. (FIVE): $42.95

Executive Chairman David Schlessinger sold 97,530 shares of this specialty value retailer for $43.47, generating $4.24 million from the sale.

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

5. Douglas Emmett Inc (DEI): $27.18

Chairman of the Board Dan A. Emmett sold 140,000 shares of this apartment REIT for $26.94, generating $3.77 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

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

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