Founder Stephen Fitzpatrick Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Vertical Aerospace

We wouldn't blame Vertical Aerospace Ltd. (NYSE:EVTL) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Stephen Fitzpatrick, the Founder recently netted about US$36m selling shares at an average price of US$6.88. That sale reduced their total holding by 34% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Vertical Aerospace

Notably, that recent sale by Stephen Fitzpatrick is the biggest insider sale of Vertical Aerospace shares that we've seen in the last year. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$4.96). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

View our latest analysis for Vertical Aerospace

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Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. It appears that Vertical Aerospace insiders own 11% of the company, worth about US$52m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Vertical Aerospace Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Vertical Aerospace stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Vertical Aerospace is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 3 of those are potentially serious...

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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.