Trade Alert: Group Talent Of Halma Jennifer Ward Has Sold Stock

Some Halma plc (LON:HLMA) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Group Talent, Jennifer Ward, recently sold a substantial UK£1.3m worth of stock at a price of UK£26.48 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 28%, which is notable but not too bad.

See our latest analysis for Halma

Halma Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Jennifer Ward is the biggest insider sale of Halma shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of UK£26.94, 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 28% of Jennifer Ward's stake.

Insiders in Halma didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insider Ownership Of Halma

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Halma insiders own about UK£8.4m worth of shares. That equates to 0.08% 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 Halma Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold Halma shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that Halma is growing earnings. 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 while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Halma that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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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.