Welcome to edition 183 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying decreased with insiders purchasing $137.24 million of their stock last week compared to $144.43 million in the week prior. Selling also decreased with insiders selling $1.06 billion of stock last week compared to $2.32 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 decreased to 7.74. In other words, insiders sold almost 8 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 16.1. 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 December 20, 2013

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 a purchase of the office REIT CoreSite Realty (COR) by its CEO, a cluster purchase by the insiders of Gordman Stores (GMAN), a 10,000 share purchase by the CFO of Audience (ADNC) and additional purchases by the insiders of Murphy USA (MUSA).

1. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI): $35.22

Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder acquired 828,324 shares of this oil & gas pipelines company, paying $33.37 per share for a total amount of $27.64 million. Mr. Kinder increased his stake by 0.36% to 231,588,110 shares with this purchase.

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

2. NuStar Energy L.P. (NS): $50.05

Director William E. Greehey acquired 102,100 shares of this oil & gas pipeline company, paying $49.00 per share for a total amount of $5 million. Mr. Greehey increased his stake by 4.58% to 2,329,579 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for NuStar Energy L.P. here.

3. Horizon Pharma, Inc. (HZNP): $7.065

Director Jeffrey W. Bird acquired 668,673 shares of this drug manufacturer, paying $6.50 per share for a total amount of $4.35 million. 636,598 of these shares were acquired indirectly by Sutter Hill Ventures and 32,075 shares were acquired indirectly through a trust.

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

4. Gulfmark Offshore, Inc. (GLF): $45.84

Former Director Robert B. Millard acquired 51,739 shares of this offshore drilling services company, paying $44.81 per share for a total amount of $2.32 million.

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

5. Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS): $11.56

Chairman, CEO & Global Co-CIO John P. Calamos Sr. acquired 186,639 shares of this asset management company, paying $11.07 per share for a total amount of $2.07 million. Mr. Calamos increased his stake by 11.32% to 1,835,006 shares with this purchase.

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

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

Notable Insider Sales:

1. FTI Consulting, Inc. (FCN): $41.69

Shares of this business advisory company were sold by 7 insiders:

• President & CEO Jack B. Dunn IV sold 186,383 shares for $40.96, generating $7.63 million from the sale. 18,000 of these shares were sold indirectly by Mr. Dunn’s spouse and 450 by his son.
• Chairman of the Board Dennis J. Shaughnessy sold 66,226 shares for $41.86, generating $2.77 million from the sale.
• EVP & Regional Chairman David G. Bannister sold 59,606 shares for $41.84, generating $2.49 million from the sale.
• EVP General Counsel Chief Risk Officer Eric B. Miller sold 40,834 shares for $41.44, generating $1.69 million from the sale. 33,334 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• SVP, Controller and CAO Catherine M. Freeman sold 21,381 shares for $41.03, generating $877,247 from the sale. 15,000 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• EVP & Chief Financial Officer Roger D. Carlile sold 11,848 shares for $41.52, generating $491,889 from the sale. These shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• Director Brenda J. Bacon sold 11,000 shares for $42.00, generating $462,000 from the sale.

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

2. Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO): $31.09

Senior Managing Director Joshua Harris sold 504,190 shares of this investment manager for $30.32, generating $15.29 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by MJH Investments LLC.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apollo Global Management, LLC here.

3. TriMas Corporation (TRS): $39.68

Director Daniel P. Tredwell sold 219,814 shares of this industrial equipment company for $38.07, generating $8.37 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly by Heartland Industrial Associates, L.L.C.

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

4. United Therapeutics Corporation (UTHR): $87.84

Shares of this biotech company were sold by 2 insiders:

• CEO Martine A. Rothblatt sold 74,364 shares for $86.76, generating $6.45 million from the sale. 7,666 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• EVP & General Counsel Paul A. Mahon sold 6,000 shares for $86.45, generating $518,688 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 United Therapeutics Corporation here.

5. Guidewire Software, Inc. (GWRE): $48.31

Shares of this insurance software company were sold by 3 insiders:

• CEO and President Marcus Ryu sold 130,000 shares for $45.70, generating $5.94 million from the sale.
• Director Guy Dubois sold 7,745 shares for $44.65, generating $345,827 from the sale. 5,936 of these shares were sold as a result of exercising options immediately prior to the sale.
• VP, Product Development Jeremy Henrickson sold 3,000 shares for $44.86, generating $134,575 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 Guidewire Software, Inc. here.

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