This Aristocrat Leisure Insider Reduced Their Stake By 12%

Looking at Aristocrat Leisure Limited's (ASX:ALL ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

Aristocrat Leisure Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO, MD & Director, Trevor Croker, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$5.3m worth of shares at a price of AU$68.24 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of AU$69.21. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 12% of Trevor Croker's stake. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Trevor Croker.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Check out our latest analysis for Aristocrat Leisure

I will like Aristocrat Leisure better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insiders At Aristocrat Leisure Have Sold Stock Recently

We've seen more insider selling than insider buying at Aristocrat Leisure recently. We note CEO, MD & Director Trevor Croker cashed in AU$5.3m worth of shares. Meanwhile Independent Non-Executive Director Natasha Chand bought AU$42k worth , as we said above . Because the selling vastly outweighs the buying, we'd say this is a somewhat bearish sign.

Insider Ownership Of Aristocrat Leisure

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Aristocrat Leisure insiders own about AU$50m worth of shares. That equates to 0.1% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Aristocrat Leisure Tell Us?

The stark truth for Aristocrat Leisure is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Aristocrat Leisure and we suggest you have a look.

Of course Aristocrat Leisure 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.