Yahoo Finance Read This Before Buying Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) Shares
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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 Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT).
What Is Insider Selling?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
View our latest analysis for Medtronic
Medtronic Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chairman & CEO Omar Ishrak for US$1.0m worth of shares, at about US$84.05 per share. That implies that an insider found the current (approximate) price enticing. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company’s future. We generally consider it a positive if insiders have been buying on market, even if the share price has increased a bit since then.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.5m for 17.60k shares. But they sold 26.36k for US$2.3m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Medtronic shares, than buying. The sellers received a price of around US$89.00, on average. It’s not too encouraging to see that insiders have sold at below the current price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn’t put too much weight on it. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by 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!
Medtronic is not the only stock that insiders are buying. 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 Medtronic Have Bought Stock Recently
Over the last quarter, Medtronic insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. In total, insiders bought US$1.3m worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any sales whatsoever. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.
Does Medtronic Boast High Insider Ownership?
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. 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’s great to see that Medtronic insiders own 0.1% of the company, worth about US$165m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Medtronic Tell Us?
It is good to see recent purchasing. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. Overall, we’d prefer see a more sustained buying from directors, but with a significant insider holding and more recent purchases, Medtronic insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Medtronic.
But note: Medtronic may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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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.
