Yahoo Finance Have Insiders Been Selling Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG) Shares This Year?
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. 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 Insurance Australia Group
Insurance Australia Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the MD, CEO & Executive Director, Peter Harmer, for AU$926k worth of shares, at about AU$7.72 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (AU$8.00). We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 9.6% of Peter Harmer's holding. Peter Harmer was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.
The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Does Insurance Australia Group Boast High Insider Ownership?
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Insurance Australia Group insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about AU$28m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Insurance Australia Group Insider Transactions Indicate?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Insurance Australia Group insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Insurance Australia Group, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
Of course Insurance Australia Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
