American Financial Group Insiders Sell US$2.0m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution
The fact that multiple American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. 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, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At American Financial Group
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Director, Craig Lindner, for US$1.3m worth of shares, at about US$134 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$133. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).
In total, American Financial Group insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
Check out our latest analysis for American Financial Group
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American Financial Group Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw significant insider selling at American Financial Group. In total, Senior VP & CFO Brian Hertzman sold US$253k 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 American Financial Group
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that American Financial Group insiders own 17% of the company, worth about US$1.9b. 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 American Financial Group Tell Us?
An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing American Financial Group. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for American Financial Group and we suggest you have a look.
Of course American Financial Group 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.