Yahoo Finance Experian plc (LON:EXPN) Insiders Have Been Selling
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. 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 Experian plc (LON:EXPN), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a 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 logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
See our latest analysis for Experian
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Experian
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by CFO & Executive Director Lloyd Pitchford for UK£190k worth of shares, at about UK£19.04 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£20.13, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. While their view may have changed since they sold, this isn’t a particularly bullish sign. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling on market, especially if they did so below the current price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 4.4% of Lloyd Pitchford’s holding. Lloyd Pitchford was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.
You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership of Experian
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Experian insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about UK£45m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
So What Do The Experian Insider Transactions Indicate?
There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. Still, the insider transactions at Experian in the last 12 months are not very heartening. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Experian.
Of course Experian may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
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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.
