Have Insiders Sold Tristel Shares Recently?

We'd be surprised if Tristel plc (LON:TSTL) shareholders haven't noticed that the CEO & Executive Director, Paul Swinney, recently sold UK£231k worth of stock at UK£4.62 per share. That sale was 19% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

See our latest analysis for Tristel

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Tristel

Notably, that recent sale by CEO & Executive Director Paul Swinney was not the only time they sold Tristel shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -UK£350k worth of shares at a price of UK£3.50 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£4.65, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 24%of Paul Swinney's holding.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Tristel than they bought, over the last year. 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!

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

Insider Ownership Of Tristel

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 3.2% of Tristel shares, worth about UK£7.0m, according to our data. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The Tristel Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that Tristel is growing earnings. When you consider that most companies have higher levels of insider ownership, we're a little wary. We'd certainly practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Tristel you should know about.

But note: Tristel 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.