Wildcat Petroleum Drops To UK£0.0007, Yet Insiders May Have Sold Too Early

Wildcat Petroleum Plc's (LON:WCAT) value has fallen 18% in the last week, but insiders who sold UK£43k worth of stock over the last year have had less success. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of UK£0.0009 is still lower than the current share price.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Wildcat Petroleum

In fact, the recent sale by Mandhir Singh was the biggest sale of Wildcat Petroleum shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of UK£0.0007. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Mandhir Singh divested 47.22m shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£0.0009. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Check out our latest analysis for Wildcat Petroleum

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Have Wildcat Petroleum Insiders Traded Recently?

In the last three months, insiders sold UK£42k. But that was only a smidgen more than the UK£41k worth of buying. Ultimately the overall selling isn't enough to tell us much.

Does Wildcat Petroleum Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Wildcat Petroleum insiders own 59% of the company, worth about UK£1.2m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The Wildcat Petroleum Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insider selling has just outweighed insider buying in the last three months. But the difference is small, and thus, not concerning. While we gain confidence from high insider ownership of Wildcat Petroleum, we can't say the same about their transactions in the last year, in the absence of further purchases. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To that end, you should learn about the 6 warning signs we've spotted with Wildcat Petroleum (including 4 which can't be ignored).

But note: Wildcat Petroleum 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.