With Tristel plc's (LON:TSTL)) price down 12% this week, insiders might find some solace having sold UK£1.0m worth of shares earlier this year.

By selling UK£1.0m worth of Tristel plc (LON:TSTL) stock at an average sell price of UK£3.33 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company's market worth decreased by UK£19m over the past week after the stock price dropped 12%, although insiders were able to minimize their losses

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Tristel

Tristel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Executive Director, Paul Swinney, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£999k worth of shares at a price of UK£3.33 each. 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£2.98. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Paul Swinney.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 28.30k shares for UK£88k. But they sold 303.95k shares for UK£1.0m. Paul Swinney divested 303.95k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£3.33. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Tristel Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. From our data, it seems that Tristel insiders own 3.6% of the company, worth about UK£5.0m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Tristel Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Tristel shares in the last quarter. The insider transactions at Tristel are not inspiring us to buy. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Tristel you should be aware of.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.