This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Constellation Software

Some Constellation Software Inc. (TSE:CSU) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that insider Robert Alfred Scotchmer recently sold a substantial CA$21m worth of stock at a price of CA$4,248 per share. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 7.8%.

Check out our latest analysis for Constellation Software

Constellation Software Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the COO & Director, Mark Miller, sold CA$98m worth of shares at a price of CA$3,802 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of CA$4,257. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. 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 9.2% of Mark Miller's stake.

Constellation Software insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

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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. Constellation Software insiders own about CA$6.1b worth of shares (which is 6.6% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Constellation Software Tell Us?

Insiders sold Constellation Software shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But since Constellation Software is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. 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 2 warning signs for Constellation Software you should be aware of.

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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.