Yahoo Finance Possible bearish signals as The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) insiders disposed of US$9.6m worth of stock
In the last year, many The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
View our latest analysis for Home Depot
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Home Depot
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive Vice President of Customer Experience, Matthew Carey, sold US$4.0m worth of shares at a price of US$316 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$320, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent 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. This single sale was just 27% of Matthew Carey's stake.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 3.08k shares for US$932k. On the other hand they divested 30.41k shares, for US$9.6m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Home Depot than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insiders At Home Depot Have Sold Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we've seen notably more insider selling, than insider buying, at Home Depot. In total, insiders sold US$5.6m worth of shares in that time. On the other hand we note Independent Director Paula Santilli bought US$500k worth of shares. Because the selling vastly outweighs the buying, we'd say this is a somewhat bearish sign.
Insider Ownership Of Home Depot
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. It's great to see that Home Depot insiders own 0.07% of the company, worth about US$232m. 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 Home Depot Insiders?
The stark truth for Home Depot is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Home Depot makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Home Depot. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Home Depot and we suggest you have a look.
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, 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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