CEO & Director Moray MacLennan Just Bought 160,056% More Shares In M&C Saatchi plc (LON:SAA)

Those following along with M&C Saatchi plc (LON:SAA) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Moray MacLennan, CEO & Director of the company, who spent a stonking UK£500k on stock at an average price of UK£0.89. That purchase boosted their holding by 160,056%, which makes us wonder if the move was inspired by quietly confident deeply-felt optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for M&C Saatchi

M&C Saatchi Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Moray MacLennan was the biggest purchase of M&C Saatchi shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of UK£1.08. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. The good news for M&C Saatchi share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. Moray MacLennan was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

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!

M&C Saatchi is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. M&C Saatchi insiders own about UK£32m worth of shares. That equates to 27% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The M&C Saatchi Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest M&C Saatchi insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for M&C Saatchi (2 are concerning) you should be aware of.

Of course M&C Saatchi 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, but not derivative transactions.

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