Yahoo Finance Have Insiders Been Selling Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Shares This Year?
We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. 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.’
Check out our latest analysis for Ameriprise Financial
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ameriprise Financial
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by Chief Executive Officer of Global Asset Management William Truscott for US$5.4m worth of shares, at about US$174 per share. While the sale doesn’t make us feel confident, we do note it was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$109. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 11.13k shares worth US$1.5m. But insiders sold 41.26k shares worth US$7.1m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Ameriprise Financial shares, than buying. They sold for an average price of about US$172. Insider selling doesn’t make us excited to buy. However, we do note that the average sale price was significantly higher than the current share price (which is US$109). You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
I will like Ameriprise Financial better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership of Ameriprise Financial
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Ameriprise Financial insiders own about US$57m worth of shares (which is 0.4% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
So What Do The Ameriprise Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?
It doesn’t really mean much that no insider has traded Ameriprise Financial shares in the last quarter. The insider transactions at Ameriprise Financial are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Ameriprise Financial.
Of course Ameriprise Financial may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
