Yahoo Finance Visa Insiders Sold US$4.5m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy
Over the past year, many Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, 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, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
View our latest analysis for Visa
Visa Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Alfred Kelly, for US$3.5m worth of shares, at about US$236 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$263, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 9.7% of Alfred Kelly's holding.
Visa insiders didn't buy any shares 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!
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Visa Insiders Are Selling The Stock
Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Visa. In total, Independent Director Lloyd Carney sold US$250k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.
Insider Ownership Of Visa
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Visa insiders own about US$244m worth of shares (which is 0.05% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
So What Do The Visa Insider Transactions Indicate?
An insider sold Visa shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Visa makes money, and is growing profits. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Visa.
Of course Visa 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 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.
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