Have Insiders Sold Westwood Holdings Group Shares Recently?
We'd be surprised if Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG) shareholders haven't noticed that the CEO & Director, Brian Casey, recently sold US$167k worth of stock at US$16.52 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 2.0%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.
Westwood Holdings Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In fact, the recent sale by Brian Casey was the biggest sale of Westwood Holdings Group shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$17.76, 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 2.0% of Brian Casey's stake.
Insiders in Westwood Holdings Group 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 want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
Check out our latest analysis for Westwood Holdings Group
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).
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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Westwood Holdings Group insiders own 14% of the company, worth about US$21m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Westwood Holdings Group Insiders?
An insider hasn't bought Westwood Holdings Group stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. On the plus side, Westwood Holdings Group makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While it's good to be aware of 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Westwood Holdings Group has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.
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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.