Standard Chartered Insiders Sold US$2.9m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Over the past year, many Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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Standard Chartered Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Sunil Kaushal, sold UK£2.8m worth of shares at a price of UK£12.64 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of UK£13.46. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 40% of Sunil Kaushal's holding. Notably Sunil Kaushal was also the biggest buyer, having purchased UK£2.3m worth of shares.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 195.32k shares worth UK£2.3m. But they sold 234.41k shares for UK£2.9m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Standard Chartered shares, than buying. 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!

View our latest analysis for Standard Chartered

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.2% of Standard Chartered shares, worth about UK£61m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Standard Chartered Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. Our analysis of Standard Chartered insider transactions leaves us cautious. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Standard Chartered.

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 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.