Yahoo Finance Read This Before Selling AMP Limited (ASX:AMP) Shares
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell AMP Limited (ASX:AMP), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.
See our latest analysis for AMP
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At AMP
The CEO, MD & Executive Director, Francesco De Ferrari, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$418k worth of shares at a price of AU$2.05 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of AU$1.53. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Francesco De Ferrari was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid AU$432k for 230.79k shares. But insiders sold 204.08k shares worth AU$418k. Overall, AMP insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Does AMP Boast High Insider Ownership?
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that AMP insiders own 0.4% of the company, worth about AU$23m. 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 AMP Insider Transactions Indicate?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders do have a stake in AMP and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing AMP. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with AMP and understanding it should be part of your investment process.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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, but not derivative transactions.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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