Largest CEO Buys Over the Past Week

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Jan 27, 2014
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There were several notable CEO buys occurring over the past week. These buys have proven to be exceptionally notable because these upper corporate executives are expected to have the most knowledge about the inner workings of their company. The following buys have all been reported by corporation’s CEOs and hold the highest transaction amount according to GuruFocus CEO Buys.

CHC Group Ltd. (HELI)

Newly incorporated CHC Group reported the largest CEO insider buy of the week, raking in approximately $500,000 on the CEOs buy alone. On Jan. 23, CHC Group began trading at its IPO of $10 per share and five insiders hopped in on this deal. The buys from each of the insiders are listed below:

  • President and CEO Amelio William added 50,000 shares, costing him $500,000. Since his buy the CEO holds on to 447,561 shares of the company’s stock. Since his buy, the price per share has dropped -4.7%.
  • COO Peter Bartolotta added 25,000 shares to his stake at the IPO price, costing him a total of $250,000. As of his most recent buy, the COO holds on to 139,694 shares of HELI stock.
  • CFO Joan Hooper purchased a much smaller 5,000 shares, costing her $50,000. The CFO now holds on to 79,785 shares of the company’s stock.
  • Director Francis Kalman added 20,000 shares over the past week costing him a total of $200,000. This was the first insider buy for the director, and he now holds on to a total of 20,000 shares of CHC Group.
  • Senior VP Michael O’Neill purchased 10,000 shares on Jan. 23, costing him $100,000. The VP now owns a total 84,785 shares of the company’s stock.

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CHC Group is the parent company of CHC Helicopter S.A., which is a commercial operator of helicopters. The company provides helicopter flight services to oil and gas companies and government search-and-rescue agencies, and helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul services to organizations through the Heli-One segment. As of the most recent quarter the company operates 238 aircrafts in 30 countries throughout the world.

CHC Group’s historical revenue and net income:

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These insider buys come as the company set its Initial Public Offering on Jan. 17. The company scheduled a $500 million IPO on the NYSE with a market cap of $1.3 billion at a price range midpoint of $17 per share on Jan. 17, 2014. The company’s joint managers were J.P. Morgan, Barclays and UBS Investment Bank.

ABC News reported on Friday, that the company had expected to sell approximately 29.4 million shares at $16 to $18 per share, but were forced to reduce that price to $12 to $14 on Thursday. The company’s pricing dropped 5.5% on Friday.Â

Since the company only recently had its IPO, there are currently no gurus that maintain a position in the company.

CHC Group has a market cap of $739.536 million. Its shares are currently trading at around $9.53 per share with a P/S ratio of 0.26.

Calamos Asset Management (CLMS, Financial)

Calamos Asset Management has a strong history of insider buying coming from the company’s CEO. John Calamos Sr. is the company’s Chairman, CEO & Global CIO, and is also the company’s largest individual investor. On Jan. 24, Calamos added an additional 23,258 shares of the company’s stock at an average price of $11.49 per share. This cost the company’s head a total of $267,234, making it his largest buy of 2014 thus far.Â

Since his most recent buy, the price per share has dropped a slight -0.09%, and the CEO now holds on to a total of 1,878,648 shares of the company’s stock.

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Insider buying for the company’s executives has become increasingly more common as the price per share has been hovering near its 52-week low as well as rebounding from this low.

Calamos Asset Management is a global asset management firm that offers strategies to fulfill a range of asset allocation goals through a multi-team platform. The company together with its subsidiaries provides investment advisory services to various individuals, corporations and partnerships.

Calamos Asset’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Calamos reports that the company’s operating margin is expanding, its dividend payout ratio is too high and its Altman Z-Score indicates that the company is currently under some sort of financial stress.

The company’s third quarter financials reported:

  • Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.20, down from $0.22 last year.
  • Non-GAAP net income of $4.1 million, compared to $4.5 million last year.
  • Revenues of $65 million, down from $66.7 million.
  • Total assets of $27.5 billion, up from $26.6 billion last year.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

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Calamos Asset Management has a market cap of $235.897 million. Its shares are currently trading at around $11.48 with a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/S ratio of 0.85 and a P/B ratio of 1.10. The dividend yield of Calamos Asset Management stocks is 4.35%.

Opko Health Inc. (OPK)

Opko Health is another company run by a man very consistent with his insider buying. Phillip Frost is the Chairman and CEO of Opko Health and is responsible for the majority of the company’s insider buys. On Jan. 23 the CEO added 14,900 shares to his stake in the company. He bought these shares at an average price of $8.82 per share. This cost Frost a total of $131,418. Since his buy the price per share has dropped approximately -4.08%. Frost now holds on to 17,478,046 shares of his company’s stock.

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Opko Health is a biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company, which is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals, diagnostic and imaging systems and instrumentation products for the treatment, diagnosis and management of ophthalmic diseases and conditions.

Opko Health’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Opko reports that the company had operating loss over the past three years, it has issued $171.572 million of debt over the past three years and the company’s short interest is high, 26.07% of the float is shorted.

The company recently announced that they had successfully exited their investment in Sorrento Therapeutics. The company sold their stake in Sorrento, adding nearly $22 million to OPKO’s cash position and representing a near ten-fold return on their original investment made in 2009.

Opko Health has a market cap of $3.42 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $8.48 with a P/S ratio of 29.70 and a P/B ratio of 3.90.

You can view a complete list of CEO buys and sells here.

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