Yahoo Finance Who Has Been Buying Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX:RHC) Shares?
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX:RHC).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.
View our latest analysis for Ramsay Health Care
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ramsay Health Care
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Non-Executive Director Claudia Ricarda Rita Dyckerhoff for AU$166k worth of shares, at about AU$66.25 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$62.96. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Claudia Ricarda Rita Dyckerhoff.
You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
Ramsay Health Care is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Does Ramsay Health Care Boast High Insider Ownership?
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Ramsay Health Care insiders own 2.1% of the company, worth about AU$305m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Do The Ramsay Health Care Insider Transactions Indicate?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Ramsay Health Care shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Ramsay Health Care insiders think the business has merit. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is a bit concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Ramsay Health Care.
But note: Ramsay Health Care may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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