Have Insiders Been Selling Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) 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 before you buy or sell Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

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. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

See our latest analysis for Brookline Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Brookline Bancorp

The insider, James McCarthy, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$297k worth of shares at a price of US$14.73 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$9.84. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 13.00k shares worth US$121k. On the other hand they divested 27.69k shares, for US$414k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Brookline Bancorp shares, than buying. 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!

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 2.7% of Brookline Bancorp shares, worth about US$21m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Brookline Bancorp Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Brookline Bancorp shares in the last quarter. Still, the insider transactions at Brookline Bancorp in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example - Brookline Bancorp has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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, but not derivative transactions.

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