Insider buying decreased last week with insiders buying $44.58 million of stock compared to $53.24 million in the week prior. Selling also declined sharply with insiders selling $422.31 million of stock last week compared to $984.67 million 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 decreased to 9.69. In other words, insiders sold  almost 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 18.49. 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.

Insider Sell Buy Ratio July 8, 2016

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. Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT): $22.65

Director Andrew Turnbull acquired 36,353 shares of this mortgage insurance company, paying $21.33 per share for a total amount of $775,409. Mr. Turnbull increased his stake by 269.06% to 49,864 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Essent Group Ltd. here.

2. Liberty Tax, Inc. (TAX): $13.47

Director Robert M. Howard acquired 20,200 shares of this tax preparation services provider, paying $13.07 per share for a total amount of $264,092. Mr. Howard increased his stake by 67.79% to 50,000 shares with this purchase.

With most U.S. indexes at or close to all time highs, it is hard to find stocks that trade at an attractive valuation. Even if you stumble across some that appear cheap, they are cheap for a reason. In other words, they are more likely to be value traps than attractive investments.

This younger sibling of H&R Block (HRB), ails from the same disruption by online tax services that H&R Block suffers from but trades at a much lower valuation across several metrics. It also has a stronger balance sheet and sports a dividend yield that is nearly 5%. Whether Liberty Tax turns out to be a profitable investment or a value trap depends on its ability to survive in a world dominated by TurboTax in the virtual one and H&R Block in the physical one.

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

3. Biglari Holdings Inc. (BH): $404.1

Director Sardar Biglari, acquired 567 shares of this restaurant chain, paying $399.66 per share for a total amount of $226,605. These shares were purchased indirectly by The Lion Fund .

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

4. Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated (BSET): $25.49

Shares of this home furnishings company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chairman & CEO Robert H. Spilman Jr. acquired 4,000 shares, paying $23.64 per share for a total amount of $94,551. Mr. Spilman increased his stake by 2.20% to 185,513 shares with this purchase.
• Chairman Emeritus Paul Fulton acquired 2,000 shares, paying $23.96 per share for a total amount of $47,924. Mr. Fulton increased his stake by 3.30% to 62,590 shares with this purchase.
• SVP, Corporate Retail David C. Baker acquired 410 shares, paying $23.95 per share for a total amount of $9,820. Mr. Baker increased his stake by 1.72% to 24,228 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated here.

5. InterCloud Systems, Inc. (ICLD): $0.601

Shares of this IT and network solutions provider were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Mark Durfee acquired 72,463 shares, paying $0.69 per share for a total amount of $49,999. Mr. Durfee increased his stake by 12.94% to 632,428 shares with this purchase.
• Chairman and CEO Mark E. Munro acquired 72,463 shares, paying $0.69 per share for a total amount of $49,999. Mr. Munro increased his stake by 4.67% to 1,623,087 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $117.24

Shares of Facebook were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director Jan Koum sold 286,906 shares for $115.48, generating $33.13 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 109,000 shares for $113.51, generating $12.37 million from the sale. 52,404 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• VP Marketing & Business Partnerships David B. Fischer sold 23,625 shares for $115.17, generating $2.72 million from the sale.
• Chief Technology Officer Michael Todd Schroepfer sold 20,000 shares for $114.20, generating $2.28 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 Facebook, Inc. here.

2. American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC): $19.24

Shares of this residential mortgage REIT were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director, CEO, Pres. and CIO Gary D. Kain sold 368,953 shares for $19.55, generating $7.21 million from the sale.
• Senior VP Christopher Kuehl sold 153,987 shares for $19.55, generating $3 million from the sale.
• EVP and CFO Peter J. Federico sold 153,987 shares for $19.55, generating $3 million from the sale.
• SVP and Chief Accounting Officer Bernice Bell sold 9,504 shares for $19.55, generating $185,804 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Capital Agency Corp. here.

3. Criteo SA (CRTO): $43.93

Shares of this French digital marketing company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Executive Chairman Jean-baptiste Rudelle sold 110,000 shares for $44.71, generating $4.92 million from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Benoit Fouilland sold 1,752 shares for $44.99, generating $78,818 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Criteo SA here.

4. The Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN): $1329.46

Interim CEO & President Jeffery H. Boyd sold 3,000 shares of this online travel company for $1,266.92, generating $3.8 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Priceline Group Inc. here.

5. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC): $51.25

Director Noel G. Watson sold 66,666 shares of this professional services company for $49.28, generating $3.29 million from the sale. 33,333 of these shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. here.

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