More Insider Selling at Apple Inc. (AAPL) as Shares Trade Near Record Highs; Plus Other Insider Trading

Big Insider Purchase at Property and Casualty Insurance Firm After Posting Disappointing Earnings

Our insider trading database shows that United Insurance Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UIHC) had not seen any corporate insiders buy shares since mid-September 2015 until last week. Sherrill W. Hudson, appointed to the company’s Board of Directors in late May 2013, purchased a total of 24,647 shares on Thursday at prices between $16.10 and $16.30 per share. Mr. Hudson currently owns an aggregate of 114,647 shares.

The insider purchase comes shortly after the property and casualty insurance holding company reported a disappointing bottom-line figure for the fourth quarter and full-year of 2016. United Insurance Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UIHC) posted a net loss of $10.5 million for the December quarter, as compared to net income of $13.8 million posted a year ago. The drastic change in net earnings was mostly related to catastrophe losses from Hurricane Matthew. Despite absorbing more than $55 million of retained catastrophe losses, which accounted for 8 gross margin points, and suffering margin erosion of 3 or 4 points from deterioration in the non-cat environment in Florida, the company still managed to turn a profit for the year. As one member of UIHC’s management team said during the recently-held earnings call, “to be able to experience 11 or 12 points of unexpected margin erosion and still turn a profit is a pretty fair accomplishment.” The shares of the insurance company are 13% in the past 12 months. Concourse Capital Management, founded by Joseph Mathias, added a 166,000-share position in United Insurance Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:UIHC) to its portfolio during the fourth quarter.

Long-Serving Board Member of Waste Management Company Buys New Stake

One long-serving member of Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ:SRCL)’s boardroom also bought some shares this past week. Mike S. Zafirovski, who has served as a director of Stericycle since November 2012, acquired a 2,920-share stake on Thursday at a price of $85.67 per share. The first insider purchases made by long-serving employees or Board members represent strong bullish signals, so Mr. Zafirovski’s purchase may convey meaningful information despite its small size.

The waste management company has seen its market capitalization drop by 28% in the past one year. Nonetheless, Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ:SRCL)’s shares are 7% in the green this year after the company reported strong fourth-quarter financial results. Stericycle, engaged in the business of managing regulated waste and providing a range of related and complementary services, reported revenue of $3.56 billion for the full-year of 2016, up 19.3% year-over-year. The company’s fourth-quarter revenues increased by $18.1 million year-on-year to $906.4 million, with acquisitions contributing with approximately $5.0 million. There were 24 asset managers from our system with equity stakes in Stericycle at the end of December, who amassed 6% of the company’s outstanding shares. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies LLC was the equity holder of 1.25 million shares at the end of 2016.

Let’s shift our focus towards some noteworthy insider selling reported with the SEC last Friday.