Philipp Joeinig Is The Chairman of John Menzies plc (LON:MNZS) And They Just Spent UK£4.7m On Shares

Those following along with John Menzies plc (LON:MNZS) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Philipp Joeinig, Chairman of the company, who spent a stonking UK£4.7m on stock at an average price of UK£3.90. That purchase boosted their holding by 1200%, which makes us wonder if the move was inspired by quietly confident deeply-felt optimism.

See our latest analysis for John Menzies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At John Menzies

Notably, that recent purchase by Philipp Joeinig is the biggest insider purchase of John Menzies shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is UK£4.02. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. The good news for John Menzies share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

In the last twelve months John Menzies insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership of John Menzies

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 indicates that John Menzies insiders own about UK£7.8m worth of shares (which is 2.3% of the company). But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Does This Data Suggest About John Menzies Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that John Menzies insiders are expecting a bright future. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for John Menzies.

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, but not derivative transactions.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.