Insider buying declined last week with insiders buying $174.82 million of stock compared to $182.33 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand more than quadrupled with insiders selling $2.08 billion of stock last week compared to $472.75 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 went up to 11.89. In other words, insiders sold almost 12 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 2.59. 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 31, 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. Biogen Inc. (BIIB): $318.78

Director Stelios Papadopoulos acquired 10,000 shares of this biotech company, paying $304.88 per share for a total amount of $3.05 million. 5,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Esperanza Holdings and another 5,000 shares were purchased indirectly by Stelios Holdings.

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

2. QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM): $64.39

Shares of this wireless equipment manufacturer were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Steven M. Mollenkopf acquired 15,815 shares, paying $63.31 per share for a total amount of $1 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by a trust.
• EVP & Chief Financial Officer George S. Davis acquired 8,100 shares, paying $62.34 per share for a total amount of $504,954. These shares were purchased indirectly by a trust.
• Director Mark D. McLaughlin acquired 5,650 shares, paying $61.63 per share for a total amount of $348,207. These shares were purchased indirectly by a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for QUALCOMM Incorporated here.

3. Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (MJN): $88.39

Shares of this manufacturer of nutritional products for infants and children were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director James M. Cornelius acquired 10,000 shares, paying $89.03 per share for a total amount of $890,286. Mr. Cornelius increased his stake by 260.62% to 13,837 shares with this purchase.
• Director Michael Grobstein acquired 2,000 shares, paying $89.83 per share for a total amount of $179,660. Mr. Grobstein increased his stake by 93.20% to 4,146 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Mead Johnson Nutrition Company here.

4. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $12.01

Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 78,521 shares of this asset management company, paying $11.88 per share for a total amount of $932,933. These shares were purchased indirectly by Calamos Investments LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Calamos Asset Management Inc. here.

5. Woodward, Inc. (WWD): $49.36

Shares of this aerospace and energy components manufacturer were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Gregg C. Sengstack acquired 12,000 shares, paying $48.26 per share for a total amount of $579,165. Mr. Sengstack increased his stake by 85.71% to 26,000 shares with this purchase.
• Pres. Air. Turb. Systems Sagar A. Patel acquired 650 shares, paying $47.50 per share for a total amount of $30,875. Mr. Patel increased his stake by 92.86% to 1,350 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $46.7

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 2 insiders:

• Founder Bill Gates sold 8,000,000 shares for $45.90, generating $367.19 million from the sale.
• Chief Operating Officer Brian Kevin Turner sold 69,158 shares for $45.64, generating $3.16 million from the sale.

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

2. The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): $34.88

Shares of this investment brokerage were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 600,000 shares for $34.86, generating $20.91 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Director Roger O. Walther sold 35,000 shares for $34.79, generating $1.22 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for The Charles Schwab Corporation here.

3. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $80.5

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

• Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 203,600 shares for $77.19, generating $15.72 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Revenue Officer David Schneider sold 10,000 shares for $77.58, generating $775,800 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.

4. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL): $38.7

Director John J. Donahoe sold 380,543 shares of this digital and mobile payments company for $36.72, generating $13.97 million from the sale.

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

5. Align Technology Inc. (ALGN): $62.7

Shares of this dental products company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Director Thomas M. Prescott sold 156,754 shares for $61.73, generating $9.68 million from the sale.
• Director Joseph Lacob sold 70,000 shares for $61.33, generating $4.29 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Align Technology Inc. here.

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