Yahoo Finance Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) insiders sold US$5.7m worth of stock, possibly signalling a downtrend
Many Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. 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.
See our latest analysis for Lowe's Companies
Lowe's Companies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive Vice President of Merchandising, William Boltz, sold US$3.2m worth of shares at a price of US$216 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$211. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.
Insiders in Lowe's Companies didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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!
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).
Insider Ownership
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Lowe's Companies insiders own 0.08% of the company, worth about US$99m. 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 Lowe's Companies Insider Transactions Indicate?
The fact that there have been no Lowe's Companies insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Lowe's Companies insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Lowe's Companies you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.
Of course Lowe's Companies 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.
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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.
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