Corporate insiders sold $6.6 billion worth of company stock in November, an increase of 187 percent from the prior month. This amount was the highest recorded in a single month since August of 2000 ($7.7 billion). For every $1 of stock purchased by insiders in November, $46.45 worth was sold. The largest group of sellers came from Charles River Labs (CRL), where 14 insiders sold nearly 800,000 shares, netting $36.7 million in the largest round of selling for that company in 5 years.
Historical evidence has shown that insider buying is a much better indication of equity valuations, when compared with insider selling. However, this statistic still indicates to me that stock prices, in general, are likely to be relatively fairly valued at this point in time. It appears that individual stock selection will be crucial in 2005, as the broad market indices aren’t likely to appreciate too much from here, given that the S&P 500 is slated to book an 8 percent earnings gain next year and the index trades at a forward P/E of 17.
One notable insider purchase was that of Washington Mutual’s CEO, who bought 50,000 shares of WM stock at $39.50, his first open market purchase ever and the largest in the company’s history.
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