ESCO Technologies Independent Director Gloria Valdez Sells 100% Of Holding

We'd be surprised if ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Director, Gloria Valdez, recently sold US$349k worth of stock at US$149 per share. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 100% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.

Check out our latest analysis for ESCO Technologies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At ESCO Technologies

The Independent Director, Vinod Khilnani, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$473k worth of shares at a price of US$120 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$149. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 15% of Vinod Khilnani's holding.

ESCO Technologies insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like ESCO Technologies better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that ESCO Technologies insiders own 0.6% of the company, worth about US$23m. 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 ESCO Technologies Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought ESCO Technologies stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But since ESCO Technologies is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing ESCO Technologies. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for ESCO Technologies you should know about.

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 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.