Vertu Motors CEO & Executive Director Robert Forrester Sells 27% Of Holding

Some Vertu Motors plc (LON:VTU) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the CEO & Executive Director, Robert Forrester, recently sold a substantial UK£1.5m worth of stock at a price of UK£0.76 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 27% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

See our latest analysis for Vertu Motors

Vertu Motors Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Robert Forrester is the biggest insider sale of Vertu Motors shares that we've seen in the last year. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of UK£0.72. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 63.04k shares worth UK£49k. On the other hand they divested 2.00m shares, for UK£1.5m. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Vertu Motors 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.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From our data, it seems that Vertu Motors insiders own 3.2% of the company, worth about UK£7.8m. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The Vertu Motors Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Vertu Motors is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since Vertu Motors is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Vertu Motors and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.

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