Trade Alert: The CEO & Executive Director Of Uniphar plc (ISE:UPR), Gerard Rabbette, Has Just Spent €900k Buying 4.2% More Shares

Uniphar plc (ISE:UPR) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the CEO & Executive Director, Gerard Rabbette, recently bought a whopping €900k worth of stock, at a price of €2.57. While that only increased their holding size by 4.2%, it is still a big swing by our standards.

See our latest analysis for Uniphar

Uniphar Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Gerard Rabbette is the biggest insider purchase of Uniphar shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being €2.42). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Notably Gerard Rabbette was also the biggest seller.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid €1.0m for 408.00k shares. But insiders sold 683.33k shares worth €1.7m. In total, Uniphar insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Uniphar better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Uniphar insiders own about €53m worth of shares. That equates to 8.0% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The Uniphar Insider Transactions Indicate?

We can't make any useful conclusions about recent trading, since insider buying and selling has been balanced. Recent sales exacerbate our caution arising from analysis of Uniphar insider transactions. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Uniphar has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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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. 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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