Have Colefax Group Insiders Been Selling Stock?

Some Colefax Group PLC (LON:CFX) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Chairman & CEO, David Green, recently sold a substantial UK£390k worth of stock at a price of UK£7.80 per share. However, that sale only accounted for 4.4% of their holding, so arguably it doesn't say much about their conviction.

See our latest analysis for Colefax Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Colefax Group

In fact, the recent sale by David Green was the biggest sale of Colefax 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£8.10, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 4.4% of David Green's holding.

In the last year Colefax Group insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!

I will like Colefax Group better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Colefax Group Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Colefax Group insiders own 31% of the company, worth about UK£15m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Colefax Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought Colefax Group 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. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Colefax Group. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Colefax Group (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

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.