Robert Walters Insiders Lose Out As Stock Sinks To UK£1.35

Insiders who bought UK£45.5k worth of Robert Walters plc's (LON:RWA) stock at an average buy price of UK£2.46 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 10% decrease in the stock. Insiders invest with the hopes of seeing their money grow in value over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth UK£25.0k, which is not what they expected.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

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Robert Walters Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Non-Executive Chairman Philippe Van de Walle bought UK£45k worth of shares at a price of UK£2.49 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£1.35 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Philippe Van de Walle was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Robert Walters

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK£176k worth of Robert Walters shares. We might be missing something but that seems like very low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Robert Walters Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Robert Walters shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Robert Walters stock. 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. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Robert Walters.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.