Chief Executive Officer of KFC Deepak Taluja Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Sapphire Foods India

We'd be surprised if Sapphire Foods India Limited (NSE:SAPPHIRE) shareholders haven't noticed that the Chief Executive Officer of KFC, Deepak Taluja, recently sold ₹17m worth of stock at ₹336 per share. That sale was 44% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

See our latest analysis for Sapphire Foods India

Sapphire Foods India Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chief Financial Officer, Vijay Jain, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for ₹68m worth of shares at a price of ₹301 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of ₹336. 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was 60% of Vijay Jain's holding.

Insiders in Sapphire Foods India didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Sapphire Foods India better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Sapphire Foods India

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. Insiders own 1.2% of Sapphire Foods India shares, worth about ₹1.3b. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Sapphire Foods India Tell Us?

Insiders sold Sapphire Foods India shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Sapphire Foods India. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Sapphire Foods India (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

Of course Sapphire Foods India may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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 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.