Welcome to edition 273 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased last week with insiders buying $48.28 million of stock compared to $39.54 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand declined with insiders selling $273.36 million of stock last week compared to $508.05 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 dropped down to 5.7. In other words, insiders sold almost 6 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 12.85. 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 September 11, 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. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): $11.4

Vice Chairman of the Board James C. Flores acquired 2,200,000 shares of this mining company, paying $9.70 per share for a total amount of $21.34 million. 700,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Sable Management, L.P. and 1,500,000 shares were purchased indirectly by Flores No. 2 Family Limited Partnership.

Voluntary Disclosure: I hold a long position in Freeport-McMoRan.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. here.

2. Rovi Corporation (ROVI): $11.96

Shares of this multimedia company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Glenn W. Welling acquired 450,000 shares, paying $10.84 per share for a total amount of $4.88 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Engaged Capital Master Feeder II, LP.
• President & CEO Tom Carson acquired 13,895 shares, paying $10.72 per share for a total amount of $148,954. Mr. Carson increased his stake by 5.59% to 262,388 shares with this purchase.

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

3. Avnet, Inc. (AVT): $42.9

Director James A. Lawrence acquired 46,700 shares of this electronic components and technology company, paying $42.60 per share for a total amount of $1.99 million. Mr. Lawrence increased his stake by 19.59% to 285,048 shares with this purchase.

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

4. CounterPath Corporation (CPAH): $0.48

Shares of this computer and mobile application software company were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Chairman Terence H. Matthews acquired 1,500,000 shares, paying $0.50 per share for a total amount of $750,000.
• Director Larry Timlick acquired 100,000 shares, paying $0.50 per share for a total amount of $50,000. Mr. Timlick increased his stake by 1000.00% to 110,000 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Patriot National, Inc. (PN): $16.68

See President and Chief Executive Officer Steven M. Mariano acquired 65,400 shares of this insurance industry services provider, paying $16.45 per share for a total amount of $1.08 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. FireEye, Inc. (FEYE): $37.43

Chief Strategy Officer Ashar Aziz sold 188,434 shares of this security software company for $37.67, generating $7.09 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.

2. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE): $4.07

Director Boone Pickens sold 697,860 shares of this natural gas fueling stations operator for $4.93, generating $3.44 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Clean Energy Fuels Corp. here.

3. Ferro Corporation (FOE): $12.24

Director Jeffry N. Quinn sold 275,000 shares of this specialty chemicals company for $12.26, generating $3.37 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Quinpario Partners LLC.

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

4. White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (WTM): $768.81

Managing Director George Manning Rountree sold 4,000 shares of this property & casualty insurance company for $751.11, generating $3 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. here.

5. Capella Education Co. (CPLA): $49.65

Director Stephen G. Shank sold 46,030 shares of this for-profit education company for $50.04, generating $2.3 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Capella Education Co. here.