Welcome to edition 203 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying bounced back last week with insiders purchasing $65.72 million of their stock compared to $16.74 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $2.03 billion of stock last week compared to $1.38 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 30.94. In other words, insiders sold almost 31 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 102.36. 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 May 9, 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:

Some of the insider purchases that did not make the top 5 list but are worth exploring include $1.56 million in additional purchases of regional bank Middleburg Financial (MBRG) by 10% owner David Sokol of Berkshire Hathaway fame, a cluster purchase by insiders of networking equipment company Emulex  (ELX) following a big decline in the stock this month and a cluster purchase by insiders of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC).

1. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $12.33

Chairman, CEO, Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 657,550 shares of this asset management company, paying $12.16 per share for a total amount of $7.99 million. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 25.96% to 3,190,694 shares with this purchase.

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

2. Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (HOS): $40.13

Shares of this transportation services provider to the oil drilling industry were acquired by 2 insiders:

• President & CEO Todd M. Hornbeck acquired 50,000 shares, paying $38.63 per share for a total amount of $1.93 million. Mr. Hornbeck increased his stake by 6.64% to 803,554 shares with this purchase. 30,000 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Mr. Hornbeck through a Limited Partnership.
• Director Larry D. Hornbeck acquired 5,500 shares, paying $38.25 per share for a total amount of $210,375. Mr. Hornbeck increased his stake by 2.85% to 198,219 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. here.

3. Tyco International Ltd. (TYC): $41.59

Director Michael E. Daniels acquired 48,816 shares of this industrial products and services company, paying $41.00 per share for a total amount of $2 million. Mr. Daniels increased his stake by 411.64% to 60,675 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Tyco International Ltd. here.

4. The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO): $34.7

Chairman & CEO George C. Zoley acquired 46,901 shares of this correctional and detention facilities REIT, paying $33.79 per share for a total amount of $1.58 million. Mr. Zoley increased his stake by 6.23% to 800,000 shares with this purchase.

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

5. Opko Health, Inc. (OPK): $8.24

CEO & Chairman Phillip Frost M.D. acquired 187,800 shares of this medical devices and drug development company, paying $8.17 per share for a total amount of $1.53 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.

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): $39.54

Shares of Microsoft were sold by 2 insiders:

• Founder Bill Gates sold 22,560,000 shares for $39.88, generating $899.63 million from the sale.
• EVP, Technology and Research Heung-Yeung Shum sold 50,000 shares for $39.44, generating $1.97 million from the sale.

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

2. Facebook, Inc. (FB): $57.24

Shares of Facebook were sold by 4 insiders:

• Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sold 283,334 shares for $60.77, generating $17.22 million from the sale.
• VP Marketing & Business Partnerships David B. Fischer sold 36,000 shares for $58.00, generating $2.08 million from the sale.
• VP, General Counsel & Secretary Colin Stretch sold 20,000 shares for $59.85, generating $1.19 million from the sale.
• Chief Product Officer Christopher K. Cox sold 5,435 shares for $60.98, generating $331,426 from the sale.

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

3. Columbia Sportswear Company (COLM): $84.89

Shares of this footwear and sports apparel company were sold by 4 insiders:

• Director Sarah Bany sold 63,347 shares for $85.20, generating $5.39 million from the sale. 25,909 of these shares were sold indirectly by DSRA LLC.
• EVP/COO Bryan Timm sold 20,200 shares for $86.50, generating $1.75 million from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Edward S. George sold 5,250 shares for $85.45, generating $448,601 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Murrey R. Albers sold 5,250 shares for $85.34, generating $448,012 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 Columbia Sportswear Company here.

4. Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR): $137.95

Shares of this cable TV and internet provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• EVP/Chief Operating Officer John Bickham sold 38,616 shares for $137.34, generating $5.3 million from the sale.
• President, Charter Media James M. Heneghan sold 19,640 shares for $137.71, generating $2.7 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 Charter Communications, Inc. here.

5. Impax Laboratories Inc. (IPXL): $26.52

Shares of this drug manufacturer were sold by 3 insiders:

• Director Larry Hsu sold 219,386 shares for $26.28, generating $5.77 million from the sale.
• Director Michael Markbreiter sold 12,500 shares for $26.44, generating $330,491 from the sale.
• Director Nigel Fleming sold 4,000 shares for $26.34, generating $105,360 from the sale.

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

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