Insider buying decreased last week with insiders buying $308.73 million of stock compared to $596.73 million in the week prior. Selling on the other hand increased with insiders selling $871.89 million of stock last week compared to $767.16 million in the week prior. Despite the decline in insider buying, insider buying remains elevated as insider buying tracks below $200 million most weeks.

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 2.82. In other words, insiders sold almost 3 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares unfavorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 1.29. 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.

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. Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR): $36.7

Shares of this operator of Burger King and Tim Hortons were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Director Alexandre Van Damme acquired 5,200,000 shares, paying $34.30 per share for a total amount of $178.36 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Societe Familiale d’Investissements.
• Director Carlos Alberto Sicupira acquired 583,090 shares, paying $34.30 per share for a total amount of $19.99 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Lobstertail Corporation.
• Director Thomas V. Milroy acquired 10,000 shares, paying $36.52 per share for a total amount of $365,200. Mr. Thomas increased his stake by 100.00% to 20,000 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Restaurant Brands International Inc. here.

2. Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD): $19.46

Shares of this department stores chain were acquired by 2 insiders:

• 10% Owner Bruce R. Berkowitz acquired 312,400 shares, paying $21.12 per share for a total amount of $6.59 million. These shares were acquired indirectly through a fund.
• Chief Executive Officer Edward S. Lampert acquired 125,582 shares, paying $20.93 per share for a total amount of $2.63 million. Mr. Lampert increased his stake by 0.41% to 30,477,814 shares with this purchase. These shares were purchased indirectly by ESL Partners.

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

3. Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC): $6.64

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 3 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer John F. Barry acquired 1,203,000 shares, paying $6.50 per share for a total amount of $7.81 million. Mr. Barry increased his stake by 19.69% to 7,311,200 shares with this purchase.
• Chief Operating Officer M. Grier Eliasek acquired 20,000 shares, paying $6.28 per share for a total amount of $125,600. Mr. Eliasek increased his stake by 5.68% to 372,196 shares with this purchase.
• CFO, CCO, Treasury & Secretary Brian H. Oswald acquired 10,000 shares, paying $6.30 per share for a total amount of $63,000. Mr. Oswald increased his stake by 2.15% to 475,000 shares with this purchase.

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

4. New Mountain Finance Corporation (NMFC): $12.9

Shares of this business development company were acquired by 6 insiders:

• Director Steven B. Klinsky acquired 222,313 shares, paying $13.03 per share for a total amount of $2.89 million. Mr. Klinsky increased his stake by 6.15% to 3,836,923 shares with this purchase.
• Director David Malpass acquired 30,000 shares, paying $12.61 per share for a total amount of $378,226. Mr. Malpass increased his stake by 22.83% to 161,411 shares with this purchase.
• CEO, President and Director Robert Hamwee acquired 25,000 shares, paying $12.35 per share for a total amount of $308,725. Mr. Hamwee increased his stake by 13.34% to 212,459 shares with this purchase.
• Director Kurt Wolfgruber acquired 13,100 shares, paying $12.36 per share for a total amount of $161,855. Mr. Wolfgruber increased his stake by 55.81% to 36,572 shares with this purchase. 9,600 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Wolfgruber’s spouse and children.
• Section 16 Officer James Stone acquired 2,000 shares, paying $12.33 per share for a total amount of $24,664. Mr. Stone increased his stake by 2.69% to 76,298 shares with this purchase.
• CCO and Corporate Secretary Karrie J. Jerry acquired 150 shares, paying $12.30 per share for a total amount of $1,845. Ms. Jerry increased her stake by 10.86% to 1,531 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for New Mountain Finance Corporation here.

5. Intrexon Corporation (XON): $31.28

Chief Executive Officer Randal J. Kirk acquired 124,475 shares of this biotech company, paying $29.85 per share for a total amount of $3.72 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by Kapital Joe.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $85.73

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

• Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 203,600 shares for $84.83, generating $17.27 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Chief Financial Officer Michael Scarpelli sold 40,000 shares for $83.21, generating $3.33 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 ServiceNow, Inc. here.

2. salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): $77.03

Shares of this software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider were sold by 3 insiders:

• Chairman of the Board & CEO Marc Benioff sold 112,500 shares for $77.99, generating $8.77 million from the sale.
• Director Craig Conway sold 1,251 shares for $77.66, generating $97,153 from the sale.
• Director John Victor Roos sold 267 shares for $77.66, generating $20,735 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for salesforce.com, inc. here.

3. Range Resources Corporation (RRC): $21.33

Director John H. Pinkerton sold 266,235 shares of this independent natural gas company for $21.65, generating $5.76 million from the sale.

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

4. The Chubb Corporation (CB): $129.84

Shares of this property & casualty insurance company were sold by 5 insiders:

• Director Zoe Baird Budinger sold 20,000 shares for $130.33, generating $2.61 million from the sale.
• Senior Vice President John J. Kennedy sold 7,014 shares for $131.22, generating $920,387 from the sale.
• EVP C&S Div. Federal Robert C. Cox sold 6,093 shares for $131.42, generating $800,734 from the sale.
• Executive Vice President Kathleen M. Tierney sold 5,000 shares for $131.67, generating $658,354 from the sale.
• Executive Vice President Steven R. Pozzi sold 1,400 shares for $131.88, generating $184,626 from the sale.

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

5. HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS): $55.21

Shares of this marketing automation company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Technology Officer Dharmesh Shah sold 90,000 shares for $55.06, generating $4.96 million from the sale.
• SVP, Global Sales Hunter Madeley sold 800 shares for $55.69, generating $44,552 from the sale.

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

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