Need To Know: Greater Than AB (STO:GREAT) Insiders Have Been Buying Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Greater Than AB (STO:GREAT), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Buying?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. 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 Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

View our latest analysis for Greater Than

Greater Than Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Roger Karlsson, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for kr1.0m worth of shares at a price of kr110 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is kr90.40. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Roger Karlsson was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid kr3.8m for 42.85k shares. On the other hand they divested 13.17k shares, for kr1.4m. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Greater Than insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Greater Than is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership of Greater Than

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Greater Than insiders own 48% of the company, worth about kr463m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Greater Than Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Greater Than insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Greater Than insiders feel good about the company's future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Greater Than that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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. 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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