Trade Alert: Chief Operating Officer of Latin America & Asia Pacific Of Barrick Gold Mark Hill Has Sold Stock

Some Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE:ABX) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Chief Operating Officer of Latin America & Asia Pacific, Mark Hill, recently sold a substantial CA$5.5m worth of stock at a price of CA$24.30 per share. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 69% of their entire holding.

View our latest analysis for Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Mark Hill is the biggest insider sale of Barrick Gold shares that we've seen in the last year. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of CA$23.27. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. 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$22m for 1.08m shares. But insiders sold 702.71k shares worth CA$16m. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Barrick Gold insiders. 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!

Barrick Gold is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

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. Barrick Gold insiders own about CA$288m worth of shares (which is 0.7% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Barrick Gold Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Barrick Gold insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. Nice! 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 Barrick Gold and we suggest you have a look.

But note: Barrick Gold may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.