Have Insiders Been Buying Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSE:ELD) Shares?

We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSE:ELD).

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.

Check out our latest analysis for Eldorado Gold

Eldorado Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Executive VP & CFO Philip Yee made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$1.0m worth of shares at a price of CA$10.10 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is CA$10.29. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Eldorado Gold insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$1.5m for 152.15k shares. But insiders sold 18551 shares worth CA$110k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Eldorado Gold insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by 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!

Eldorado Gold is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Does Eldorado Gold Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that Eldorado Gold insiders own 0.5% of the company, worth about CA$7.7m. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The Eldorado Gold Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Eldorado Gold insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Eldorado Gold insiders are doubting the company. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Eldorado Gold, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: Eldorado Gold 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, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.