Trade Alert: CEO & Executive Director Of Mitie Group Phil Bentley Has Sold Stock

Some Mitie Group plc (LON:MTO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the CEO & Executive Director, Phil Bentley, recently sold a substantial UK£5.6m worth of stock at a price of UK£1.17 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 33% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

See our latest analysis for Mitie Group

Mitie Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Phil Bentley was the biggest sale of Mitie Group shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£1.21, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 33% of Phil Bentley's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 49.88k shares worth UK£58k. On the other hand they divested 4.77m shares, for UK£5.6m. In total, Mitie Group insiders sold more than they bought 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 want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Insider Ownership Of Mitie Group

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Mitie Group insiders own 1.3% of the company, worth about UK£20m. 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 Mitie Group Tell Us?

An insider sold Mitie Group shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But since Mitie Group is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Mitie Group that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

But note: Mitie Group 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.