Have Insiders Sold Rathbones Group Shares Recently?

Anyone interested in Rathbones Group Plc (LON:RAT) should probably be aware that the Group Chief Risk Officer, Sarah Owen-Jones, recently divested UK£207k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of UK£15.90 each. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 24% in their holding.

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Rathbones Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Sarah Owen-Jones is the biggest insider sale of Rathbones Group shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of UK£16.12. 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. 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 24% of Sarah Owen-Jones's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 2.58k shares for UK£41k. On the other hand they divested 13.00k shares, for UK£207k. 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!

Check out our latest analysis for Rathbones Group

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Insider Ownership Of Rathbones Group

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. Our data indicates that Rathbones Group insiders own about UK£4.0m worth of shares (which is 0.2% of the company). Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Does This Data Suggest About Rathbones Group Insiders?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at Rathbones Group, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that Rathbones Group is growing earnings. When you consider that most companies have higher levels of insider ownership, we're a little wary. So we're not rushing to buy, to say the least. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example - Rathbones Group has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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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.