Insiders At Bellevue Gold Sold AU$15m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

The fact that multiple Bellevue Gold Limited (ASX:BGL) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

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.

See our latest analysis for Bellevue Gold

Bellevue Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Non-Executive Director, Stephen Parsons, for AU$12m worth of shares, at about AU$1.90 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (AU$1.33). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Notably Stephen Parsons was also the biggest buyer, having purchased AU$373k worth of shares.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 219.13k shares for AU$373k. But they sold 8.55m shares for AU$15m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Bellevue Gold than they bought, over the last year. The sellers received a price of around AU$1.76, on average. We are not joyful about insider selling. However, we do note that the average sale price was significantly higher than the current share price (which is AU$1.33). The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Bellevue Gold Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Bellevue Gold. In total, insiders bought AU$86k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Insider Ownership Of Bellevue Gold

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Bellevue Gold insiders own about AU$59m worth of shares. That equates to 3.4% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Bellevue Gold Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. But we can't say the same for the transactions over the last 12 months. The more recent transactions are a positive, but Bellevue Gold insiders haven't shown the sustained enthusiasm that we look for, although they do own a decent number of shares, overall. So they seem pretty well aligned, overall. While it's good to be aware of 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. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Bellevue Gold.

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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.