How Much Are Celestica Inc. (TSE:CLS) Insiders Taking Off The Table?

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Celestica Inc. (TSE:CLS), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Selling?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.'

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Check out our latest analysis for Celestica

Celestica Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chief Legal & Administrative Officer, Elizabeth DelBianco, for CA$454k worth of shares, at about CA$15.67 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of CA$8.78. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders netted CA$822k for 57310 shares sold. Celestica insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insiders at Celestica Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw some Celestica insider selling. Jason Phillips divested only US$55k worth of shares in that time. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Insider Ownership of Celestica

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.9% of Celestica shares, worth about CA$11m, according to our data. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The Celestica Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Celestica stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Celestica makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Celestica, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course Celestica may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.