Yahoo Finance Need To Know: Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) Insiders Have Been Selling Shares
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 shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC).
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 in the company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.
View our latest analysis for Graham Holdings
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Graham Holdings
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Director, Katharine Weymouth, sold US$638k worth of shares at a price of US$580 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$675). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 23% of Katharine Weymouth's holding. Katharine Weymouth 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
I will like Graham Holdings 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
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Graham Holdings insiders own 20% of the company, worth about US$732m. 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 Graham Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Graham Holdings shares in the last quarter. While we feel good about high insider ownership of Graham Holdings, we can't say the same about the selling of shares. To put this in context, take a look at how a company has performed in the past. You can access this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.
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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.
