47% Of This Imperial Brands Insider's Holdings Were Sold

From what we can see, insiders were net sellers in Imperial Brands PLC's (LON:IMB ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders sold the stock in greater numbers than they purchased it.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Imperial Brands

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Imperial Brands

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CFO & Director, Lukas Paravicini, sold UK£1.0m worth of shares at a price of UK£18.25 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (UK£27.80). When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent 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. This single sale was just 47% of Lukas Paravicini's stake. Lukas Paravicini was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 4.40k shares for UK£92k. But they sold 57.41k shares for UK£1.0m. 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!

I will like Imperial Brands 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.

Imperial Brands Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Imperial Brands. We can see that Independent Non-Executive Director Alan Johnson paid UK£40k for shares in the company. No-one sold. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Insider Ownership Of Imperial Brands

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. Imperial Brands insiders own about UK£1.7b worth of shares (which is 7.5% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Imperial Brands Tell Us?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. While we gain confidence from high insider ownership of Imperial Brands, we can't say the same about their transactions in the last year, in the absence of further purchases. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Imperial Brands you should be aware of, and 1 of these is potentially serious.

Of course Imperial Brands may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.