Welcome to edition 259 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased last week with insiders buying $45.8 million of stock compared to $43.19 million in the week prior. Selling decreased with insiders selling $1.08 billion of stock last week compared to $2.08 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 to 23.59. In other words, insiders sold almost 24 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 48.14. 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. American Homes 4 Rent (AMH): $16.48

Director B. Wayne Hughes acquired 1 million shares of this single-family home rental REIT, paying $16.80 per share for a total amount of $16.8 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

This is the third purchase a million shares by Mr. Hughes we have reported on over the last six months. Following his purchase in December we mentioned,

“Mr. Hughes is the billionaire founder of Public Storage (PSA) and retired as the CEO of PSA in 2012. He founded the former manager of American Homes 4 Rent in 2011.”

For a REIT, the company has an unusually low yield of just 1.2%, when compared to the average yield of 3.27% of all residential equity REITs (PDF). The value most likely lies in the single family homes that company holds on its balance sheet as their timing in buying single family homes after the great recession was impeccable. The company trades at 1.05 times tangible book value.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for American Homes 4 Rent here.

2. Tutor Perini Corporation (TPC): $22.82

Chairman & CEO Ronald N. Tutor acquired 153,115 shares of this construction services company, paying $21.96 per share for a total amount of $3.36 million. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

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

3. Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (MLM): $148.1

Director Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. acquired 15,000 shares of this heavy building materials provider, paying $150.16 per share for a total amount of $2.25 million. Mr. Zelnak increased his stake by 39.84% to 52,649 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Martin Marietta Materials Inc. here.

4. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): $19.65

Vice Chairman of the Board James C. Flores acquired 60,000 shares of this mining company, paying $20.52 per share for a total amount of $1.23 million. These shares were purchased indirectly by various entities.

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

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

5. Halcón Resources Corporation (HK): $1.19

Chairman and CEO Floyd C. Wilson acquired 1,000,000 shares of this oil and gas exploration company, paying $1.03 per share for a total amount of $1.03 million. Mr. Wilson increased his stake by 26.56% to 4,764,807 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. Heartland Express, Inc. (HTLD): $21.78

Shares of this trucking company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Gerdin sold 3,737,500 shares for $23.04, generating $86.1 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.
• Vice President/Controller/Secretary Christopher Alan Strain sold 1,000 shares for $21.50, generating $21,500 from the sale.

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

2. Graham Holdings Company Common (GHC): $1069.03

CEO and COB Donald Graham sold 20,699 shares of this diversified education and media company for $1074.58, generating $22.24 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Graham Holdings Company Common here.

3. HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS): $50.25

Director Stacey Bishop sold 261,573 shares of this marketing automation company for $48.94, generating $12.8 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Scale Venture Partners.

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

4. MEDNAX, Inc. (MD): $70.55

Shares of this specialized health services provider were sold by 2 insiders:

• President and COO Joseph M. Calabro sold 108,071 shares for $70.51, generating $7.62 million from the sale.
• COO, Pediatrix Medical Group David A. Clark sold 14,654 shares for $70.48, generating $1.03 million from the sale.

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

5. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB): $99.68

Shares of this specialty chemicals company were sold by 2 insiders:

• EVP – I&D, Supply Chain & Procurement Patrick D. Quarles sold 59,238 shares for $101.35, generating $6 million from the sale.
• EVP & Chief Legal Officer Jeffrey A. Kaplan sold 5,000 shares for $102.51, generating $512,562 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for LyondellBasell Industries N.V. here.