The Senior VP & CFO of Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV), Brad Cerepak, Just Sold 31% Of Their Holding

We wouldn't blame Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Brad Cerepak, the Senior VP & CFO recently netted about US$5.0m selling shares at an average price of US$143. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 31%, which is notable but not too bad.

View our latest analysis for Dover

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Dover

Notably, that recent sale by Brad Cerepak is the biggest insider sale of Dover shares that we've seen in the last year. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$141. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

All up, insiders sold more shares in Dover than they bought, over the last year. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. 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 0.5% of Dover shares, worth about US$90m. 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 Dover Tell Us?

An insider sold Dover shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. 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. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Dover you should know about.

But note: Dover 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, 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.