Director Of Great-West Lifeco Sold 100% Of Their Shares
Some Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Director, Andre Desmarais, recently sold a substantial CA$32m worth of stock at a price of CA$90.69 per share. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 100% of their entire holding.
Great-West Lifeco Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Notably, that recent sale by Andre Desmarais is the biggest insider sale of Great-West Lifeco shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of CA$90.32. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.
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!
View our latest analysis for Great-West Lifeco
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Insider Ownership Of Great-West Lifeco
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Great-West Lifeco insiders own 0.06% of the company, worth about CA$52m. 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 Do The Great-West Lifeco Insider Transactions Indicate?
An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. On the plus side, Great-West Lifeco makes money, and is growing profits. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Great-West Lifeco and understanding this should be part of your investment process.
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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.