We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Matrix Composites & Engineering Ltd (ASX:MCE), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Selling?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. 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 logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. 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 Matrix Composites & Engineering
Matrix Composites & Engineering Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
insider Mike Conway made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$91k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.37 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.33 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It’s very possible they regret the purchase, but it’s more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Mike Conway was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.
You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by 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!
Matrix Composites & Engineering is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Does Matrix Composites & Engineering Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It’s great to see that Matrix Composites & Engineering insiders own 42% of the company, worth about AU$14m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Matrix Composites & Engineering Insiders?
The fact that there have been no Matrix Composites & Engineering insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Matrix Composites & Engineering insiders think the business has merit. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Matrix Composites & Engineering.
But note: Matrix Composites & Engineering 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.
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