Insider Buying: The Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE:ABX) Non-Independent Executive Chairman & Member of International Advisory Board Just Bought 4.1% More Shares

Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE:ABX) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Non-Independent Executive Chairman & Member of International Advisory Board, John Thornton, recently bought a whopping CA$2.5m worth of stock, at a price of CA$24.90. While that only increased their holding size by 4.1%, it is still a big swing by our standards.

Check out our latest analysis for Barrick Gold

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Barrick Gold

In fact, the recent purchase by Non-Independent Executive Chairman & Member of International Advisory Board John Thornton was not their only trade of Barrick Gold shares this year. Earlier in the year, they sold shares at a price ofCA$27.73 per share in a -CA$71m transaction. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of CA$23.75. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$17m for 591.18k shares. But insiders sold 3.49m shares worth CA$102m. In total, Barrick Gold insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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

Insider Ownership

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. It's great to see that Barrick Gold insiders own 0.5% of the company, worth about CA$227m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Barrick Gold Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. But we can't say the same for the transactions over the last 12 months. The recent buying by some insiders , along with high insider ownership, suggest that Barrick Gold insiders are fairly aligned, and optimistic. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Barrick Gold you should be aware of, and 1 of these can't be ignored.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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