An Insider At Sonic Healthcare Lowered Their Holding Recently

From what we can see, insiders were net sellers in Sonic Healthcare Limited's (ASX:SHL ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders sold the stock in greater numbers than they purchased it.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for Sonic Healthcare

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Sonic Healthcare

The Finance Director, Christopher Wilks, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$1.3m worth of shares at a price of AU$31.15 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of AU$32.11, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 6.3% of Christopher Wilks's stake. Christopher Wilks was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 7.45k shares worth AU$228k. On the other hand they divested 40.54k shares, for AU$1.3m. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Sonic Healthcare Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Sonic Healthcare. Overall, four insiders shelled out AU$122k for shares in the company -- and none sold. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Does Sonic Healthcare Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Sonic Healthcare insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about AU$114m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Sonic Healthcare Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. Overall, we'd prefer see a more sustained buying from directors, but with a significant insider holding and more recent purchases, Sonic Healthcare insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. While conducting our analysis, we found that Sonic Healthcare has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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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.