Bullish ASM International Insiders Loaded Up On €4.00m Of Stock

In the last year, multiple insiders have substantially increased their holdings of ASM International NV (AMS:ASM) stock, indicating that insiders' optimism about the company's prospects has increased.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for ASM International

ASM International Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Gek Lim Loh bought €2.0m worth of shares at a price of €520 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is €524. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 7.65k shares for €4.0m. But they sold 1.61k shares for €979k. Overall, ASM International insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

ASM International is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Does ASM International Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.09% of ASM International shares, worth about €24m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The ASM International Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no ASM International insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think ASM International insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. 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 assist with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of ASM International.

Of course ASM International 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.