Insiders probably made the right decision selling US$1.5m worth of shares earlier this year as SBM Offshore N.V.'s (AMS:SBMO)) stock dips by 3.9%.

Insiders at SBM Offshore N.V. (AMS:SBMO) sold US$1.5m worth of stock at an average price of US$14.68 a share over the past year, making the most of their investment. The company's market valuation decreased by €96m after the stock price dropped 3.9% over the past week, but insiders were spared from painful losses.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for SBM Offshore

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At SBM Offshore

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chairman of Management Board & CEO, Bruno Y. Chabas, sold €752k worth of shares at a price of €14.68 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is €13.20. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Insiders in SBM Offshore 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 SBM Offshore 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

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. SBM Offshore insiders own about €27m worth of shares. That equates to 1.2% 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 Does This Data Suggest About SBM Offshore Insiders?

The fact that there have been no SBM Offshore insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by SBM Offshore insiders. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with SBM Offshore (including 2 which make us uncomfortable).

Of course SBM Offshore 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.