This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In City Holding

Some City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President, Charles Hageboeck, recently sold a substantial US$896k worth of stock at a price of US$124 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 13%, which is notable but not too bad.

View our latest analysis for City Holding

City Holding Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by President Charles Hageboeck was not the only time they sold City Holding shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$899k worth of shares at a price of US$101 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$123, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 14% of Charles Hageboeck's holding.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of City Holding shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Does City Holding Boast High 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. City Holding insiders own about US$42m worth of shares. That equates to 2.3% of the company. 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 City Holding Tell Us?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at City Holding, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. On the plus side, City Holding makes money, and is growing profits. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! 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. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for City Holding you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

But note: City Holding may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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 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.

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