Stock Analysis

Have Insiders Been Buying Telecom Service One Holdings Limited (HKG:3997) Shares?

SEHK:3997
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It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Telecom Service One Holdings Limited (HKG:3997), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

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What Is Insider Buying?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Telecom Service One Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Non-Executive Director King Cheung bought HK$1.1m worth of shares at a price of HK$2.43 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. Nonetheless, we consider it positive if insiders want to buy at around the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders paid HK$6.0m for 2.49m shares purchased. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Telecom Service One Holdings insiders. The average buy price was around HK$2.42. It's great to see insiders putting their own cash into the company's stock, albeit at below the recent share price (HK$2.85). You can see the insider transactions (by 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!

SEHK:3997 Insider Trading January 22nd 19
SEHK:3997 Insider Trading January 22nd 19

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this freelist of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Telecom Service One Holdings Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Telecom Service One Holdings insiders own 21% of the company, worth about HK$76m. 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 Telecom Service One Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Telecom Service One Holdings insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in Telecom Service One Holdings and their transactions don't cause us concern. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free .

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

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.