Yahoo Finance Possible Bearish Signals With Intercontinental Exchange Insiders Disposing Stock
The fact that multiple Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Check out our latest analysis for Intercontinental Exchange
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Intercontinental Exchange
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Founder, Jeffrey Sprecher, sold US$1.6m worth of shares at a price of US$108 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$133. 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. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 1.2% of Jeffrey Sprecher's holding.
In the last year Intercontinental Exchange insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!
I will like Intercontinental Exchange better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insiders At Intercontinental Exchange Have Sold Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Intercontinental Exchange. In total, Chief Financial Officer A. Gardiner sold US$296k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.
Insider Ownership Of Intercontinental Exchange
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Intercontinental Exchange insiders own about US$637m worth of shares (which is 0.8% of the company). 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 Does This Data Suggest About Intercontinental Exchange Insiders?
An insider sold Intercontinental Exchange shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But since Intercontinental Exchange is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for Intercontinental Exchange (1 is potentially serious!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.
