Who Has Been Buying Galliford Try plc (LON:GFRD) Shares?

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. 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 Galliford Try plc (LON:GFRD), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Buying?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. 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 Galliford Try

Galliford Try Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

CEO of Partnerships & Regeneration and Member of Executive Board Stephen Teagle made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£57k worth of shares at a price of UK£6.33 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of UK£7.23. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. 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 Galliford Try insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid UK£109k for 17882 shares. But insiders sold 7270 shares worth UK£49k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Galliford Try insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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.

Insiders at Galliford Try Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Galliford Try. In total, insiders dumped UK£49k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

Does Galliford Try Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From looking at our data, insiders own UK£1.9m worth of Galliford Try stock, about 0.2% of the company. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Galliford Try Tell Us?

While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. 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 Galliford Try insiders are doubting the company. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

Of course Galliford Try may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.

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.