Read This Before Buying Party City Holdco Inc. (NYSE:PRTY) Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. 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 we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Party City Holdco Inc. (NYSE:PRTY).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

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.'

Check out our latest analysis for Party City Holdco

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Party City Holdco

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Non-Employee Senior Adviser & Director, Gerald Rittenberg, sold US$3.1m worth of shares at a price of US$16.04 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$7.78. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Gerald Rittenberg was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 168k shares worth US$1.7m. But they sold 196k for US$3.1m. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this freelist of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. From our data, it seems that Party City Holdco insiders own 1.2% of the company, worth about US$8.6m. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

What Might The Insider Transactions At Party City Holdco Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Party City Holdco shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Party City Holdco insiders. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this freereport showing analyst forecasts for its future.

Of course Party City Holdco may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this freecollection of high quality companies.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.