Looking at Senvest Capital Inc.'s (TSE:SEC ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.
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.
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Vice President of Finance, George Malikotsis, for CA$190k worth of shares, at about CA$380 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of CA$383, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 0.8% of George Malikotsis's stake. George Malikotsis was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.
You can see the insider transactions (by companies and 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!
See our latest analysis for Senvest Capital
I will like Senvest Capital better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.
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. Senvest Capital insiders own 64% of the company, currently worth about CA$566m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Senvest Capital shares in the last quarter. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Senvest Capital insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example - Senvest Capital has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
But note: Senvest Capital 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.
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.