Eric Updyke Bought 12% More Shares In Spirent Communications

Investors who take an interest in Spirent Communications plc (LON:SPT) should definitely note that the CEO & Director, Eric Updyke, recently paid UK£0.97 per share to buy UK£97k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 12%.

See our latest analysis for Spirent Communications

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Spirent Communications

In fact, the recent purchase by Eric Updyke was the biggest purchase of Spirent Communications shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being UK£0.95). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

Spirent Communications insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. They paid about UK£1.34 on average. These transactions suggest that insiders have considered the current price attractive. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership Of Spirent Communications

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our data suggests Spirent Communications insiders own 0.3% of the company, worth about UK£1.7m. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Spirent Communications Tell Us?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Spirent Communications stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Spirent Communications. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Spirent Communications has 3 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.